Getty Images, the world's largest photograph bank, has been sold to Hellman & Friedman, a private equity firm, for $2.4bn (£1.2bn). It was previously noted by the Business Sale Report in January that Getty Images was up for sale. Hellman & Friedman announced that it would pay a 55 per cent premium to the Getty share price in order to take the business private. The deal was partiallyl financed by the Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays Capital.