Facebook and Instagram parent Meta Platforms struck a deal Tuesday to sell Giphy to photo and content company Shutterstock for $53 million, ending a multi-year legal tussle.
Giphy is a library and search vehicle for GIFs, stickers and other social media content.
Meta shares dipped less than 1% in premarket trading following the news, after closing Monday’s session at $248.32, nearly double its price from the start of the year. Shutterstock shares jumped 3.8% in the premarket session, after closing at $53.96, basically flat for the year.
New York based Shutterstock said in a statement that Giphy draws more than 1.3 billion searches a day, and its memes and short videos generate more than 15 billion daily impressions. “Giphy’s content serves as a critical ingredient in text- and message-based conversations on platforms such as Meta, other social media platforms such as TikTok, Twitter and Snapchat and team collaboration platforms such as Slack and Microsoft Teams, in addition to integrations with most mobile devices,” the company said.
Meta inked an agreement with Shutterstock to ensure that Giphy content could be used across its platforms, the statement said.
The acquisition is not expected to contribute meaningfully to Shutterstock’s revenue in the short run. The company said “focused monetization efforts” will take place in 2024.
Meta said last year that it would sell Giphy after Britain’s competition regulator ruled that the 2020 acquisition of the animated-images platform for $400 million reduced innovation in the advertising market. The company did not release a statement on the sale or submit a filing to regulators, and could not be immediately reached for comment.
The sale follows Monday’s news that Meta was fined a record $1.3 billion by the European Union for transferring EU-based users’ data to the United States. The company said it will appeal the massive levy.
The social media company last month reported a stronger-than-expected first quarter, with revenue rising 3% from last year to $28.65 billion. Net income slid 24% amid the company’s mass layoffs and restructuring, but its profit of $2.20 per share topped Wall Street forecasts.