Meta sells Giphy to Shutterstock for $53M
Meta has found a willing buyer for Giphy, the animated GIF search engine it acquired for $400 million three years ago.
Shutterstock announced Tuesday that it has entered into an agreement with Meta to buy Giphy for $53 million, meaning Facebook’s parent company has recuperated just 13% of its money.
The deal, which is set to close next month, will be funded with cash on hand and Shutterstock’s revolving credit facility, the company said.
Meta will continue to have access to Giphy's content across its product suite after the companies entered into an API agreement.
The announcement comes eight months after Meta agreed to comply with a ruling by the UK competition regulator to sell Giphy on the grounds that the acquisition could “harm social media users and UK advertisers.”
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found the deal could allow the company to limit other social media platforms' access to GIFs, "making those sites less attractive to users and less competitive.”
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