Tralee man to make €110m on sale of digital image company

A freelance photographer turned businessman will make €110 million after selling his digital image company to a multinational run by one of the billionaire Getty family.

Tralee man Jerry Kennelly yesterday agreed to sell his Stockbyte and Stockdisc photographic businesses to Getty Images for $135 million, just over €110 million.

Stockbyte and Stockdisc sell photographs and images for use in publications, advertising, billboards, brochures and websites. The company is the third-largest in a market dominated by Getty Images and rival Corbis, which is owned by Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

The Getty deal is a coup for Mr Kennelly, who only last year was named Ernst & Young Emerging Entrepreneur. He set up the company in Tralee in 1997, with support from ACT Venture Capital.

In 2003, Mr Kennelly bought out ACT's interest. Since then, he and his wife, Johanna, have been the sole shareholders. The company's images have appeared on the front of magazines such as Time and Newsweek, and it has built up a library of over 85,000 images.

Mr Kennelly launched the company with £100,000 (€127,000). Yesterday's deal means he has made a return of close to 1,000 per cent on his original investment.

As a result of the deal, the Kennellys are to leave the business, which will shift to Getty's operation in London. The 28 staff will be offered the opportunity to locate to other Getty businesses or lose their jobs.

However, Mr Kennelly has provided a €5 million fund, after tax, for the workers, meaning that they will get an average of €175,000 tax-free each from the deal. "We had to do something, because the business depended on everyone working at their peak to bring it to this level," he said.

Mr Kennelly told The Irish Times yesterday that the company had sales last year of €50 million and had captured 10 per cent of the worldwide market for stock photography.

Mr Kennelly has agreed not to compete with Getty Images. But he pledged yesterday to find a new enterprise.

"What we have proved is that you can set up and run a big business from rural Ireland," he said. "I'm going to continue in business. I'm Kerry born and bred and I'm not going to become a tax exile - I'm going to stay in Kerry."

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