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 partially financed by the Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays Capital.
The current management team, led by the co-founder Jonathan Klein, is staying on under the new owners.
Mr Klein commented that he was pleased to have pulled off a deal when private equity firms have been finding it difficult to raise debt financing for buy-outs.
