Getty Images has ended its $3.7 billion merger with Shutterstock after the UK's Competition and Markets Authority required divestiture of Shutterstock's global editorial business. The collapse demonstrates that US antitrust approval is not always enough when other jurisdictions raise competition concerns.
Although the US Department of Justice had granted unconditional antitrust clearance earlier this year, the British demands proved fatal.
The episode illustrates how local regulatory hurdles can still derail transactions that cleared US review.
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The European Union has approved the $55bn acquisition of Electronic Arts by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) along with Silver Lake and Affinity Partners. The leveraged buyout, if completed, would become the largest in history and has drawn criticism over sportswashing concerns.
A $110 billion media merger closed Tuesday while Elon Musk regains trillionaire status and former AI researchers issue safety warnings. Investors are watching these developments as markets open higher.
The SEC advanced regulations permitting investment advisers and funds to custody crypto assets under defined conditions, establishing a regulatory path following the Clarity Act blockage last month.
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation barring public officials from issuing memecoins and prohibiting companies from using officials' likenesses in such coins. The rules were motivated by reports of roughly one million investors losing an alleged $3.8 billion on a 2025 presidential memecoin.
Goldman Sachs agreed to acquire NEOS Investments for up to $2.25 billion, adding three crypto-income ETFs that use derivatives rather than direct holdings. The deal expands Goldman's active ETF business to roughly $80 billion and is expected to close in Q1 2027 pending regulatory approval.
