Getty Images on Wednesday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protections as part of a restructuring plan to take the flailing stock photo provider private.
It listed assets of $1 billion to $10 billion, and liabilities in the same range.
The content provider announced last week that it was planning to file in Delaware bankruptcy court after its near $4 billion merger with rival Shutterstock collapsed due to British antitrust challenges.
Getty Images – which has supplied photos and video for news agencies for more than 30 years – has been struggling amid a pile of debt and mounting competition from AI image generators.
The company will receive up to $533 million in fresh equity from affiliates of the Getty family – descendants of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty – and Koch Equity Development. Those parties will own 100% of the company once it is taken private.
It said Wednesday that it has launched a solicitation process to secure formal approval for its restructuring plan, and that it expects the reorganization to be completed by the end of the year.
Getty Images will continue normal operations in the meantime, with no impact on contributors, partners, customers, employees or vendors, the company said.
Financing from Koch Equity Development of roughly $143 million will support the restructuring process.
The photo archive entered into a 30-day grace period after failing to make interest payments due Sept. 1 on unsecured notes.
It said it had the cash necessary to make the payments, but opted to pursue a restructuring.
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