By Daryl Lang

Three photographer-owned stock agencies outbid Masterfile in an auction of the assets of bankrupt agency SuperStock.

Blend, Glow Images and RubberBall, in a joint venture called RGB, won the auction with a bid of $2.825 million, Blend CEO Rick Becker-Leckrone says.

“There will be some changes,” Becker-Leckrone says, but the new owners will keep SuperStock in business. SuperStock is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and has a separate U.K. division that is not in bankruptcy.

Blend director of business development Lanny Ziering will be named CEO of the new SuperStock, Becker-Leckrone says. Blend, Glow and Rubberball remain separate companies.

The purchase still might not help SuperStock photographers get the money they were owed by the bankrupt company. Many of the 1,200 photographers who contributed to SuperStock have not been paid royalties and are designed as unsecured creditors. SuperStock owed about $1,162,000 in royalties as of September. The bankruptcy court has estimated that there is only enough money to pay 4 percent of what is owed unless RGB or some other buyer agrees to take over the photographer contracts.

Becker-Leckrone says the joint venture has some money set aside for this purpose and is trying to formulate a plan for how to proceed.

“We have to look at the entire amount of money that’s owed,” he says. “We’re going to make the best effort to do right by the photographers.”

There may also be opportunities for SuperStock photographers to contribute work to the other three agencies, and for the three agencies to market their collections through SuperStock.

Masterfile had announced its intentions to bid $1.5 million for SuperStock, in an advance play known as a stalking horse bid. The auction took place in Florida on January 16.

The owner of SuperStock, A21 Group, put SuperStock and a sister company, ArtSelect, in bankruptcy on December 4. A21 Group is also trying to sell SuperStock’s U.K. division.

Becker-Leckrone says SuperStock was attractive in part because of its collection of 110,000 wholly owned images, plus its focus on editorial and travel content. That content will balance the commercial-oriented content of the three agencies in the joint venture.

He expressed optimism that RGB will be able to overcome some of SuperStock’s challenges, which included debt, expensive compliance with federal regulations as a public company, and a costly real estate contract.

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Dec. 4, 2008: SuperStock Bankrupt; Masterfile In Deal To Acquire U.S. Assets