In the statement made by the company, it was stated that with the application made to the bankruptcy court in the state of Delaware, the financial restructuring plan previously agreed upon with the creditors will be implemented.
It was reported that Getty Images will continue its operations normally within the scope of the bankruptcy protection process known as “Chapter 11” in the USA, and its employees, customers and business partners are not expected to be affected by the process.
Within the scope of the agreement announced by Getty Images on October 12, it is envisaged that the Getty family and US Koch Equity Development will invest up to 533 million dollars in the company, pay off the unsecured bond debt of 270 million dollars and improve the payment terms of other debts.
Getty Images Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Craig Peters, whose views were included in the statement, stated that the bankruptcy application is a step towards the implementation of the previously announced restructuring plan and said, “Getty Images continues its normal activities. This process supports further investments in our content and services by regulating our financial structure and some of our liabilities outside our activities.” he said.
The company is expected to complete the restructuring by the end of the year, leaving its public company status and turning into a private company under the control of the Getty family and Koch Equity Development.
MERGER ATTEMPT WITH SHUTTERSTOCK FAILS
Getty Images reached a merger agreement with its rival Shutterstock worth approximately $3.7 billion in January 2025, but terminated the agreement in July 2026 after the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) required the sale of Shutterstock’s editorial content activities due to competition concerns.
The company, which started to evaluate alternatives to strengthen its financial structure after the merger attempt failed, reported a net loss of 85.8 million dollars in the second quarter balance sheet announced in August, and its total debt was approximately 2.1 billion dollars as of the end of June.
Transactions of Getty Images’ shares on the New York Stock Exchange were suspended on September 29 due to the share price falling to extremely low levels, and the shares began to be traded in the over-the-counter market as of September 30.
