Under the terms of the agreement, the combined company will retain the Getty Images name and continue trading under the NYSE ticker symbol "GETY." Craig Peters, current CEO of Getty Images, will lead the merged entity, while Shutterstock's CEO Paul Hennessy will join the eleven-member Board of Directors.

Getty Images Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:GETY) and Shutterstock, Inc. (NYSE:SSTK) shares are trading higher premarket on Tuesday after the companies entered a deal to create a visual content company in a merger of equals.

Shares of Getty Images Holdings, Inc. ($GETY) and its New York-based rival Shutterstock, Inc. ($SSTK) surged in Tuesday’s pre-market trading after the creative and editorial visual content solutions providers confirmed rumors of a potential combination.