Getty’s Images Inc, a global supplier of pictures and video to media and advertising companies, is for sale. The sale could reach a forecasted price of $1.5 billion. “While the evaluation process, including discussions with various interested parties, is ongoing, there can be no assurance that any transaction will occur,” the company said in a statement.

Getty’s shares soared on Tuesday after it acknowledged it is exploring strategic alternatives. With the enlistment of investment bank, Goldman Sachs, to facilitate financial advice, several private equity firms have expressed interest in Getty, such as Bain Capital and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. The tightening of high-yield debt markets cutting off private equity firms from the lifeline of their businesses, makes it a challenge to finance deals. This results in non-assured deals.

Getty’s main selling point is the licensing of high-quality images from global professional photographers. It also offers video footage for use in movies, television and online. The rise of low-cost online rivals, called microstock photography, has hit Getty and its main rivals Jupitermedia and Corbis hard. Getty’s stock prices have been on a decline of more than 47 percent in 2007, according to The New York Times. A second round of lay-off, also in 2007 in the Getty company took place in the same year.

Getty has diversified its business in other ways. It acquired Pump Audio in June 2007, a music-licensing company, for $42.5 million. It also acquired WireImage, a company involved in picture coverage of entertainment events. MediaVast, a major competitior of Getty’s, was acquired for $202 million in the same year. Photonica was bought for a price of $51 million in 2005 and iStockPhoto.com for a price of $50 million in 2006. Scoopt, a UK citizen journalism agency, was bought by Getty in March last year for an undisclosed sum, acknowledged as a move towards recognizing the trend for user-generated content. Getty has undergone a series of acquisitions into a premium source for visual media. Jupitermedia, and Corbis Corporation are main rivals of Getty Images.

The Internet and digital photography have made the acquisition of quality pictures at lower cost a possibility. Jonathan Klein and Mark Getty, a scion of the J. Paul Getty oil fortune started the company by acquiring archive discs from companies such as Photodisc. A $183 million purchase of Eastman Kodak’s Image Bank in 1999 prompted its continued growth in the business sector.

Getty’s revenues reached $209 million for the third quarter of 2007, with a net income of $25.7 million. Prediction of the company’s revenue for the whole of 2008 is estimated to be $900 million by the company. “Getty Images continues to be a company in transition, adjusting from being the leading player in an oligopolistic market to being one of many players in a highly competitive market,” Barbara Coffey, a research analyst with Kaufman Brothers, wrote in a research note this month. Potential bidders have been watching closely as Getty’s share price fell from a peak of $93.66 (£43.04) in Dec 2005 to $21.94 (£11.25) at Friday’s close.