Under the terms of the agreement, the combined company will retain the Getty Images name and continue trading under the NYSE ticker symbol "GETY." Craig Peters, current CEO of Getty Images, will lead the merged entity, while Shutterstock's CEO Paul Hennessy will join the eleven-member Board of Directors.

Visual content companies Shutterstock and Getty Images will join to become a $3.7 billion visual content company.

Getty Images and Shutterstock announced that the companies will merge and create a $3.7 billion 'premier visual content company.'

Holdings and stock-photo rival Shutterstock are merging to form a company worth about $3.7 billion to meet booming demand for licensed images and videos, as artificial intelligence disrupts the business of content creation.

Getty Images is the bigger company of the two, and its shareholders will own approximately 54.7% of the new entity, while Shutterstock shareholders will own 45.3%. Getty Images also owns the iStock and Unsplash brands. The company will simply be called Getty Images.

The deal, presented as a merger of equals, will create a company worth $3.7Bn with annual revenue of around $2Bn.

Shares in Getty Images and Shutterstock surged after the image companies agreed to merge, creating a group worth about $3.7 billion including debt. Getty stock stood about 25% higher Tuesday morning.

Getty Images Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:GETY) and Shutterstock, Inc. (NYSE:SSTK) shares are trading higher premarket on Tuesday after the companies entered a deal to create a visual content company in a merger of equals.

Getty Images Holdings Inc. is exploring a merger with rival Shutterstock Inc., according to people familiar with the matter.

Getty Images said on Tuesday it would merge with rival Shutterstock to create a $3.7 billion stock image powerhouse geared for the artificial intelligence era, in a deal that would likely draw antitrust scrutiny.