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Photolibrary acquires Index Stock
The Photolibrary Group of Sydney has purchased Index Stock Imagery of New York. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Index CEO, Bahar Gidwani, has left the company. Dan Russelman, currently president of Index, will manage the office for Photolibrary. The company has stated plans to retain the other 41 employees at Index for the foreseeable future.
The acquisition is the latest and most dramatic of a series of takeovers by the Australian company, which has included Oxford Scientific and the Garden Photo Library in the UK, and Monsoon Images in the US, among others. According to Photolibrary CEO, Glenn Parker, Photolibrary will reorganize and streamline all aspects of the Index operation from branding to product development to internal sales management and accounting systems. They will retain the Index brand name for appropriate products while using Index's New York office as a launching pad for the traditional RM and RF collections offered through Photolibrary.com. "This approach will give our contributing artists direct access to the US Market, in turn giving US customers access to the full suite of our collections which range from traditional lifestyle imagery through to specialist collections in nature and the environment; gardens and botany; food and fine art imagery," Parker said. He added the move gives the fast growing Photolibrary the ability to serve multinational accounts in a way they couldn't before; “Now that we have a strong US presence, we can offer truly global service to those huge clients who require it."
Index's contributing artists, who have long complained about Index's poor commissions reporting and payment record, will also benefit from the deal. Photolibrary says they will bring all payments up to date as quickly as possible. They caution contributors to be patient, however, while the company completes a thorough review of Index's books to determine exact amounts owed. In addition, Index photographers will have their material distributed worldwide through placement on www.photolibrary.com.
Click here to view the original press release.
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Photolibrary acquires Anthony Blake Photo Library (August 2, 2006)
Photolibrary expands to USA by acquiring Monsoon Images (April 28, 2006)
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Posted in: News, Photographers, Stock Photo Companies
