Shutterstock Inc., a provider of online stock photos and images, filed plans for an initial public offering of common stock to raise up to $115 million, according to a filing with U.S. regulators.
According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, New York-based Shutterstock said its online marketplace provides a freely searchable library of commercial digital images that its users can pay to license, download and incorporate into their work. The company compensates image contributors for each of their images that is downloaded.
In addition, Shutterstock, led by Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Oringer, owns Bigstock that provides its customers the option of purchasing "credits," which are redeemed as images are downloaded. Bigstock also began offering a Pay As You Go purchase options in 2011. Entities affiliated with Insight Venture Partners and Pixel Holdings Inc.
Oringer is Shutterstock's biggest shareholder and Insight Venture Partners also has an interest, according to the filing.
For the year ended 2011, Shutterstock's net income was $22 million on revenue of $120.2 million. More than 550,000 active, paying users contributed to revenue in 2011, representing an increase of 71 percent compared to the prior year levels, the filing showed. The company delivered more than 58 million paid downloads to its customers in last year.
Morgan Stanley & Co., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and Jefferies & Company are leading the offering.
Shutterstock, which competes with online marketplaces for imagery such as iStockphoto and Fotolia, plans to list its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "SSTK".
According to BCC Research, the market for pre-shot commercial digital imagery is expected to nearly double to $5 billion in 2013 from $2.7 billion in 2008.