Beleaguered shareholders of Getty Images (NYSE: GYI) got some good news today. According to The New York Times, the company is exploring "strategic alternatives." This is essentially finance-speak for selling the company.
To get things rolling, Getty has hired Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) as its financial advisor. The buzz is that a deal could fetch $1.5 billion.
The buyers? Well, despite the credit crunch, it's the private equity crowd, such as KKR and Bain Capital.
While Getty has a strong business in licensing of media (such as photos), there have been competitive pressures lately. Some of the competitors include Jupitermedia (NASDAQ: JUPM) and Corbis Corporation. There are also a number of smaller photo sharing sites, some of which that give away their photos.
Interestingly enough, the CEO of Jupitermedia, Alan Meckler, has a blog post on the possible sale – and, no doubt, thinks his company is in better shape to deal with the changes in the industry. According to him: "While the Getty team might be bailing out, management at Jupiterimages remains confident that we have the best chance of the big three in the image industry to come out on top. We are the only company with the right mix in this difficult environment to hopefully create a solid business model for success."
In today's trading, Getty is up 15.63% to $25.37.
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook
