The deal brings together Reuters global sports coverage with Action Images’ archive of more than fifty years of sports photography and a highly successful editorial and commercial photography business.

The London based Action Images has been in the sports photography business for the past two decades. Its clients include major sports clubs and governing bodies, international media publishers and sponsors. It has a team of photographers working on editorial and commercial assignments, and has developed an archive of more than seven million sports images stretching back over 50 years with more than 1.5 million available online. The deal enables Reuters to expand the sale of its pictures beyond its traditional media client base into the commercial market, and to build the Action Images brand in markets outside the UK. Action Images will also have access to Reuters world class sports news text and graphics, and will use these to create multi-media products for its clients.

Reuters has acquired Image Group the holding company of the Action Images group. The gross assets of Image Group Limited as of December 2004 amounted to £1,821,494. Reuters will retain the Action Images brand and its founder David Jacobs is remaining as MD of the Action Images business. Reuters global head of news and pictures Monique Villa, becomes Action Images chairman and Phillip Kelly will be its CEO.

Villa said, “Bringing together Reuters world class sports photography with Action Images position in the editorial and commercial market is a really powerful combination. It is an important part of the ongoing investment and expansion of our picture business, allowing us to reach new market places and cement our position in existing ones.”

Jacobs said, “This is a huge opportunity for Action Images. It allows us to take our business to the next level creating multi-media packages for our clients and reaching out to a truly global audience. It really opens up the sports photography marketplace, creating a new alternative for publishers, sponsors and sports bodies.”