'Getty Images could fetch more than $1.5 bln'

NEW YORK: Getty Images Inc the world's biggest supplier of pictures and video to media and advertising companies, has put itself up for sale and hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to conduct the auction, a source familiar with the situation said on Monday.   

The potential sale, which has been rumored for months, has attracted interest from several buyers, mostly private equity firms, including Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Bain Capital LLC and others, The New York Times reported.   

Final bids are due by the end of the month and Getty could fetch more than $1.5 billion, the newspaper reported.   

"We are a publicly traded company and cannot comment on rumor and speculation," Getty spokeswoman Bridget Russel said.   

Getty Images, which saw its shares close at $21.94 on Friday, has a market capitalization of about $1.3 billion, according to Reuters data.   

KKR declined to comment. Bain and Goldman could not immediately be reached for comment.   

Getty's competitors include privately-held Corbis controlled by Microsoft Corp.'s Bill Gates and Jupitermedia Corp.

In March 2007, Jupiter Media and Getty ended talks toward a deal in which Getty would have paid $9.60 per share for Jupitermedia.   

Jupiter media's shares closed at $2.98 on Friday.   

Getty Images is set to report fourth-quarter results on Jan 31.