Getty Images buys Wire Images

Getty Images Completes Acquisition of WireImage
Expanded Capabilities Allow Company to Meet High-Speed Demand for Celebrity Imagery
Seattle, Apr. 26, 2007. Getty Images, Inc. (NYSE: GYI), the world's leading creator and distributor of visual content, today announced that it has successfully completed the acquisition of WireImage. The deal, which was announced on February 22, 2007, also includes MediaVast, Inc. the owner of WireImage, and sub-brands FilmMagic and Contour Photos.
"Celebrity, entertainment and sports photography is a fast-growing and vital part of the imagery industry, and this acquisition positions us to meet and exceed the demand for nearly instantaneous content," said Jonathan Klein, co-founder and CEO of Getty Images. "Growing our entertainment imagery business has been a key strategic focus, resulting in revenue growth of approximately 60 percent in each of the last three quarters of 2006. We see further growth opportunity as a result of this acquisition. The real winners will be our customers who can now expect to see exciting new developments with products and services including podcasts, editorial video, multimedia, mobile and exclusive imagery."
Getty Images intends to maintain MediaVast's three brands and its market Web sites. With the combined resources of Getty Images and WireImage, Getty Images will continue to generate new imagery for their respective celebrity and entertainment collections and make it available for online distribution globally.
The acquisition was driven by the rapidly evolving celebrity imagery business. A recent article in Variety pointed out that the category is increasingly being led by online publications that publish articles at breakneck speed and therefore demand images immediately.
Getty Images is shortening the time between image capture and the worldwide distribution of the image through its industry-leading Web site, which features search in local languages and purchase in local currencies, and leads the industry in delivery speed, service and international distribution. The acquisition of WireImage and MediaVast gives the company more coverage capabilities for events and portraiture, and expands the entertainment and celebrity imagery segment.
The acquisition of WireImage will also enable Getty Images to accelerate the growth of its video distribution business. The company increased its portfolio of video and film footage in 2006 and has been preparing a build out of its back end delivery systems. WireImage established a foothold in the video business and Getty Images will continue to grow the category by adding editorial footage to the mix.