Reuters reports that Getty Images, the largest stock photo agency, has retained Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase to evaluate the possibility of a sale or an initial public offering (IPO). According to a source cited by the Financial Times, a sale or IPO could value the company at $4 billion.

Since 2008, the stock agency has been owned by private equity firm Hellman & Friedman. (Full disclosure: Hellman & Friedman also owns Nielsen, parent company of PDN.) Hellman was reported to have paid $2.4 billion, or $34.00 per share, for the agency which had previously been a publicly traded company.

Since Getty Images went private, the company has not disclosed any financial data to the public. The agency has made cost-cutting measures in the past year that have affected photographers who contribute to the agency. For example, last year Getty introduced tough new contracts, cutting back royalties it pays to photographers,  telling contributors that rights-managed images that have not sold well will be moved to royalty-free collections while the royalty-free images would be sold as part of subscription packages.

Related articles:
ASMP to Getty Photographers: Time to Bail

Getty Cuts Pay for Editorial Contributors

Tags: Getty Images, Goldman Sachs, Hellman & Friedman, IPO, JP Morgan Chase, private equity

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012 at 6:25 pm ET by Holly Hughes and is filed under Business, Stock.