Meta to dispose of Giphy for $53M on regulator’s order

According to Shutterstock, it has an agreement with Meta Platforms to purchase Giphy for $53 million in net cash.

This put an end to a protracted legal dispute that compelled the sale of the animated-images company for social media.

New York-based Shutterstock, a provider of legally authorized content, asserted that the agreement adds a mobile content platform with 1.7 billion daily users and international partners like Microsoft, TikTok, Samsung, Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Slack, and Discord.

After the U.K.'s top competition authority upheld a previous decision to invalidate Meta's $315 million acquisition of Giphy in 2020, the company announced last year that it would sell Giphy.

When Meta first received the order to sell the business in 2021, the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority claimed that the acquisition of Giphy would significantly lessen competition in two markets. Additionally, the deal gave Meta the opportunity to further strengthen its sizable market dominance in social media while eliminating a potential rival in the U.K. display ad market.

In addition, Meta is signing an API agreement to ensure ongoing access to Giphy's content across its platform, according to Shutterstock, which said it plans to finance the deal, which is expected to close in June, with cash on hand and its revolving credit facility.

As the social media company enters what Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg called a "year of efficiency," bringing significant job cuts and its first sales increase in nearly a year, Meta divested Giphy and business software provider Kustomer earlier this month.