Getty Images, the world's biggest supplier of pictures and video to media and advertising companies, has put itself on the auction block and could fetch more than $1.5 billion (€1.02 billion), the New York Timesreported yesterday.
The firm hired Goldman Sachs to advise it on a potential sale, according to the report, which cited people briefed on the situation.
Almost two years ago, Getty took over the Kerry-based Stockbyte photographic image company in a $135 million deal. The Kerry firm had been founded by Jerry Kennelly 10 years previously.
Getty has attracted interest from several buyers, mostly private equity firms, including Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Bain Capital and others, and final bids are due by the end of the month.
"We are a publicly traded company and cannot comment on rumour and speculation," a Getty spokeswoman said.
KKR and Bain could not be reached for comment.
Getty Images, whose shares closed at $21.94 on Friday, has a market capitalisation of about $1.3 billion, according to Reuters data.
Its competitors include privately-held Corbis - controlled by Microsoft's Bill Gates - and Jupitermedia. - ( Reuters )
