Gates' Corbis image archive may go public

SEATTLE, March 11 (UPI) -- Microsoft head Bill Gates may offer shares in his Corbis digital image archive to the public as a way of providing a windfall of cash for the company.

The Art Newspaper Friday quoted Gates as telling a recent annual meeting of the corporation in New York it would be "a typical part of our evolution as a successful company to broaden the ownership structure."

The report also quoted Corbis Chief Executive Officer Steve Davis as saying there were no immediate plans to float the company, but several analysts were quoted as saying a public offering seems imminent.

Davis reported the Seattle-based Corbis grew 22 percent in 2004, generating $170 million in revenues, second only in the global market to Getty Images. Corbis recently paid $72 million to acquire the third largest image bank, Zefa, headquartered in Germany.

Among the providers of images for Corbis, founded in 1989, are 15 major museums and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Arts with which Corbis has licensing deals. Corbis has been a big earner for museums, the report said, but the Warhol partnership may prove even more lucrative for the Warhol Foundation.