Getty Images filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy Wednesday with a debt restructuring plan that would take the visual-media company private.
Under the prepackaged reorganization plan, the Getty family and affiliates of Koch Equity Development would take full ownership of the company through an equity investment of up to $533 million, Getty said in a press release. Existing shareholders would be wiped out.
Getty, which expects to continue operating in bankruptcy, has secured up to $143 million in financing from a Koch affiliate to help fund the bankruptcy process.
The company reached an agreement for a restructuring plan backed by its major investors the week before it filed for chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. It expects to complete its restructuring by the end of the year.
The bankruptcy follows the collapse of Getty's planned $3.7 billion merger with rival Shutterstock in the summer, a deal designed to cut costs and deleverage. Getty abandoned the plan after a U.K. regulator conditioned the sale on Shutterstock selling its editorial business.
The bankruptcy filing triggered automatic defaults on roughly $1 billion and EUR407 million ($456.7 million) in outstanding debt, including secured and unsecured bonds, term loans and a revolving credit facility, according to a securities filing Tuesday.
In September, Getty entered a 30-day grace period after missing interest payments on its unsecured notes. The company made the payments later that month, avoiding a default as it continued restructuring talks with creditors.