Giant Meta (the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger) is selling Giphy, the world’s largest collection of GIFs and stickers, for $53 million to Shutterstock after Britain’s competition watchdog ordered the giant to sell the photo platform.
Meta bought the motion picture company for $315 million in 2020, and in October 2022 the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) halted the operation and ordered Meta to proceed with its sale.
At first, Meta appealed to CMA, but eventually had to back down.
Shutterstock, the New York-based content provider, said in a statement Tuesday that its deal to stay with Giphy is set to close in June, and the company’s CEO, Paul Hennessey, called the new chapter “an exciting step for Shutterstock.”
Giphy, according to the release, generates more than 1.3 billion search queries per day and generates more than 15 billion impressions per day on apps like Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, Microsoft, TikTok, Samsung, Twitter, Slack, and Discord.
Meta’s divestment comes after the Mark Zuckerberg-led company announced several cuts and thousands of layoffs to boost the company, which has lost ground after booming during pandemic lockdowns.
-With information from EFE
