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The UK has ordered Meta to sell Giphy by the end of 2021, and the social media mogul is now following suit. Shutterstock, a stock photo provider, reached an agreement Acquires Giphy from Meta for $53 million. In particular, this does not break compatibility. Meta has a programming interface deal that ensures his GIFs on Giphy work well across his Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and other services.
Sales will end in June. Shutterstock says the acquisition will boost the company’s stake in “casual conversation” by adding GIFs and stickers to its catalog, as well as Giphy partners like Microsoft, TikTok and Twitter. The acquisition should also help advance Shutterstock’s generative AI strategy, especially in the mobile space, allowing the company to reach more advertisers.
Meta (then Facebook) acquired Giphy in 2020 to build its GIF library into platforms like Instagram. The deal was reportedly valued at $400 million. However, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) soon launched an investigation to determine whether the acquisition would harm competition and charged Meta 6,960 for continuing the merger plan without obtaining regulatory approval. fined a million dollars. A year later, the CMA determined that the acquisition would unduly strengthen Meta’s market dominance and directed Meta to sell Giphy.
We reached out to Meta for comment. The company argued with the CMA that Giphy did not operate in the UK and did not count towards display advertising justifying the split. Meta also argued that Giphy and users alike would rather have that resource at their disposal.
If you use Meta’s social network, this exchange won’t change your situation much. However, this may affect Shutterstock customers. CEO Paul Hennessey hopes Giphy will help commercialize his GIF collection for Shutterstock. Don’t be surprised if animated images play an important role in Shutterstock’s products.
