Stock photography company Shutterstock announced Tuesday that it is acquiring the animated image platform Giphy from Facebook parent company Meta.
“This is an exciting next step in Shutterstock’s journey as an end-to-end creative platform,” said Paul Hennessy, CEO of Shutterstock, in a statement. rack. The deal is expected to close in June.
The $53 million cash deal represents a significant loss for Meta, which acquired Giphy for $315 million in 2020, meaning the company is selling it at a loss of nearly $262 million.
Last year, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) issued a final injunction to Meta to sell the animated graphics app amid concerns it would reduce competition, claiming that its ownership “creates a monopoly” and restricts access by other social media platforms to Giphy content. , Reuters reported at the time.
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The First order was in fall 2021, which Meta appealed, and the final injunction was in October 2022, when Meta complied with the ruling and agreed to withdraw further appeals. In January, the CMA gave Meta a timeline to sell Giphy. The timeline was probably a six-month period, TechCrunch reportedmeaning Meta was under pressure when the window was almost closed.
australiabusinessblog.com has reached out to Meta for comment.
Meta has faced other privacy-related pressures from the UK. On Monday, the tech giant was fined €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) for violating European Union privacy policies by transferring European users’ personal data to the US. Meta spoke the fine in one blog poststating that it intends to appeal the ruling.
