The acquisition

Seattle-based Getty Images, the only publicly traded image archive, agreed to acquire Image Bank from Eastman Kodak for $183 million in cash. The deal, which is expected to close in December, will give Getty Images more content and brands to boost its online sales to businesses and individuals, company officials said today. About 23 percent of Getty Image_s first-half sales were over the Web and almost all sales will be online within three years, said Getty Images_ Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Klein. "For Getty Images, this is a real nice fit, and for Kodak it was probably hidden in a real large infrastructure," said Ben Reitzes, a PaineWebber analyst who follows Kodak. Image Bank has been a subsidiary of Kodak since 1991. Image Bank, a visual content provider based in Dallas, has contemporary and archival photography and film footage. The company has 30 million still images and 15,000 hours of motion images. After the acquisition, Getty Images will have more than 60 million images and 30,000 hours of footage. Getty Images will pay for the acquisition through debt and from the proceeds of an offering of about 5 million shares. The acquisition is expected to add immediately to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization and to cash earnings per share. The news helped push Getty Images stock up $1.50, or 6.52 percent, to $24.50 at midday today.