Getty Images is the bigger company of the two, and its shareholders will own approximately 54.7% of the new entity, while Shutterstock shareholders will own 45.3%. Getty Images also owns the iStock and Unsplash brands. The company will simply be called Getty Images.

Getty Images is buying Shutterstock to create a $3.7 billion visual content company. The merger comes at a time when companies that use still images are facing increased competition from images generated by artificial intelligence.

Shares in Getty Images and Shutterstock surged after the image companies agreed to merge, creating a group worth about $3.7 billion including debt. Getty stock stood about 49% higher in recent premarket trading.