News
Sheldon Marshall Returns to Imagestate
He’s Baaaaack!
He’s back, but then you might say he never left. Sheldon Marshall has taken control of part of Imagestate, the company he helped found and then lead as its CEO. The company distributed a press-release saying Marshall “has acquired the assets and brand of Imagestate, the International online rights managed and royalty free content provider.” As reported here, Imagestate had suspended trading of its shares early in April of this year “pending clarification of the company’s financial position.” Apparently that clarification has now come in the form of a sale of the company’s assets. Getty reportedly purchased the John Foxx royalty free collection that Imagestate owned. Marshall is thought to have purchased the rights managed side of the company, along with the brand name.
The move marks another interesting turn in a remarkable career in the stock photo industry. During his stint as CEO at VCG in London, Marshall was instrumental in building that company -- through acquisitions and aggressive global distribution of its popular catalogues – to the point where Getty purchased it for $220MM. Marshall went on to found Imagestate and serve as its CEO until he and investors in Imagestate decided to go their separate ways. He then formed Heritage Image Partnership, a stock photo agency representing primarily the photo collections of museums and other historical archives. With the purchase of Imagestate, Marshall makes a return to the general commercial side of the stock photo industry. Of course, it remains to be seen what he can accomplish with the assets of what was clearly a failing enterprise. We expect few are more qualified than Marshall to tackle the job.
Click here to view the original press release.
Related stories:
Sheldon Marshall Returns to Imagestate (May 19, 2006)
Imagestate claims business as usual (April 17, 2006)
Imagestate suspends trading pending “clarification of the company’s financial position.” (April 11, 2006)
Posted in: News, Photographers, Stock Photo Companies
Comments(1)
post a comment », May 19, 2006 [#]
For reference SM did not form HIP. It was formed by venture capitalists who eventually pulled out.