Getty Images recently completed the acquisition of JupiterImages Corp. from JupiterMedia, for $96 million cash, which included the flagship portal Photos.com which Jupiter used for low cost royalty free stills. Getty plans to retain the JupiterImages brand, and use the portal Photos.com to integrate Jupiter's brand with Getty. After the acquisition, JupiterMedia has changed its name to WebMediaBrands Inc., and will continue to operate their other top tier brands including Graphics.com, and Internet.com.
Getty Images announced the acquisition of Jupiter Images, last October, only 3 months after the completion of the acquisition of Getty Images itself by private equity firm Hellman and Friedman for $2.4 billion.
Just prior to that Getty had made two other interesting acquistions, Pump Audio for $42 million, and the premier low cost stock photo site, iStockphoto.com, for $50 million. If your head isn't spinning yet, here are another 20+ Getty acquisitions for you to peruse.
OK, back to the Photos.com story. At Graphics.com a bit more of the history of Photos.com is explained. JupiterMedia acquired ArtToday in 2004, and that acquisition included the low cost royalty-free stock photo site, Photos.com, which Graphics.com describes as a business model that was 'still a novelty'.
A bit more digging shows that ArtToday, based out of Tucson, announced the launch of Photos.com in January 2003.
Whew. A lot of ground covered by one top tier in just a mere 6 years.
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