Getty Images and Shutterstock announced that they have canceled their $3.7 billion merger agreement due to regulatory hurdles in the United Kingdom. Getty's CEO Craig Peters stated that the board unanimously made this decision and that the UK Competition and Markets Authority's demand for Shutterstock to sell its editorial business made the deal unsustainable.

Getty's board found this requirement unacceptable and announced plans to hire a financial advisor to evaluate their next steps. Getty provides telephoto images and videos to media and businesses worldwide and participates in many significant events such as red carpet events and film festival premieres. The merger with Shutterstock aimed to consolidate the market for editorial and stock images by offering a library of 450 million photos.

This situation demonstrates the significant influence of the UK's top regulator and how it can shape a deal. Recently, this has coincided with Hollywood's interest, overlapping with David Ellison's efforts to merge major studios with his own mega deal.

Additionally, UK Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Lisa Nandy indicated that the government could intervene in Paramount's attempt to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery for $111 billion. Nandy stated that the Competition and Markets Authority would assess the impact of this merger on competition. Paramount, however, expressed confidence that there would be no delays in the timing of the deal.