WASHINGTON (AP) — The Carlyle Group plans to buy a controlling stake in the photo and video distributor Getty Images from the private equity firm Hellman & Friedman in a $3.3 billion deal.
Carlyle Group said Wednesday that it will partner with Getty Images management in the deal. Company co-founder and Chairman Mark Getty and the Getty family will roll their ownership interests into the deal. CEO and co-founder Jonathan Klein also will invest equity in the company.
Seattle-based Getty Images provides stock photography and creates and distributes still images, video and multimedia products. Washington, D.C.-based Carlyle is one of the biggest private equity firms in the world.
The deal is expected to close later this year.
Carlyle Partners V, a $13.7 billion U.S. buyout fund, will provide equity financing. J.P. Morgan, Barclays, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and RBC Capital Markets have provided committed debt financing.
Hellman & Friedman bought Getty Images and took it private in 2008 in a deal valued at $2.04 billion. It paid $34 per share for Getty’s outstanding shares and took on about $300 million in debt.
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