Shutterstock snaps up UK-based Rex Features for $33m to focus on editorial

Stock photo behemoth Shutterstock has acquired Rex Features, a photographic press agency based in the UK.

This move signals Shutterstock’s intent to focus more on editorial imagery, given that Rex Features specialises in photos and videos covering celebrity, sports, entertainment, and news. While much of this is up-to-date assets on current affairs, it also hosts a huge archive of content dating back decades.

Focus on editorial

“The acquisition of Rex Features marks our substantive entry into editorial imagery — a new market for Shutterstock with significant potential and many opportunities to better serve global media companies,” explains Jon Oringer, Shutterstock founder and CEO, in a press release.

Founded out of London in 1954, Rex Features has provided imagery to magazines, newspapers, TV, websites, and books around the world for a long time.

So, this is a big scoop for Shutterstock, as it continues to make a mark in multiple verticals.

Other acquisitions

Indeed, last March Shutterstock acquired WebDAM, a creator of brand management and marketing tools, as it looked to create a bigger splash in the enterprise. However, Shutterstock is starting to feel the heat from other big-brand companies – one day after Adobe announced its $800m deal to buy stock photo company Fotolia back in December, Shutterstock’s market value tanked.

The full purchase price is $33m, most of which will be made in cash.