PA buys Empics

The Press Association, the national news agency of the UK and Ireland, has bought EMPICS, the sports photography and photo marketing specialist, the company announced today.

The purchase, and the merger of the vast EMPICS sports photo library with that of The Press Association, will greatly boost the position of PA in the picture syndication market and improve its range of services to customers, the company said.

EMPICS, founded by Phil O’Brien in 1985, has established a leading reputation in the sports photography market using innovative technology to deliver images to customers.

The Press Association’s photo library has images dating back to the 1890s and offers customers images from Britain’s most comprehensive news archive over the three centuries.

Combined, the two organisations have an archive of nearly nine million news, celebrity and sport images, of which more than 1.5 million are available to customers online.

Both companies will continue to operate their own picture desk operations.

Among photo marketing initiatives developed by EMPICS is its ground-breaking New Media Stills Production service.

This delivers, via wireless technology, still images taken at events to customers within 20 seconds.

The revolutionary new service presents significant opportunities for The Press Association, packaging live images with real-time text and data, the agency said.

Paul Potts, chief executive and editor-in-chief of The Press Association, said: “EMPICS excels in photo marketing and has successfully embraced new technology to deliver exciting new products to customers.

“In addition, EMPICS executives have a proven track record in the management and exploitation of intellectual property rights, maximising the potential value for licensors and serving the needs of picture licensees.”

EMPICS chief executive Mr O’Brien said: “For picture buyers, this deal offers a great opportunity to get the very best UK editorial photography combined with the well known standards of EMPICS service.

“In our companies’ developing markets of new media, sports and celebrity, it delivers a compelling multimedia proposition combining the NMSP real-time photography product with PA’s established live data services.”