An example of direct family investing and a desire for control, the Getty family is acquiring full ownership of its eponymous images business.

The Getty family is taking back full control of the visual communications business that bears its name, an example of a dynasty choosing to continue running a commercial enterprise rather than spin it off.

The family is taking control of Getty Images from private equity and investment titan The Carlyle Group. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and expected to close by the end of the third quarter of this year. All of Carlyle’s equity interests are being bought for cash plus units giving Carlyle an “ongoing financial interest in the future growth of the company”. The exact financial size of the transaction was not disclosed.

At a time when family offices and high net worth individuals have been showing more interest in direct investing, the Getty move is part of a trend. Carlyle had invested in Getty images alongside Getty Images co-founder, Mark Getty, and the company’s management.

A report by Reuters this week, quoting an unnamed source, said that the deal values Getty at slightly below $3 billion, including debt, less than the $3.3 billion valuation that Carlyle placed on the company when it acquired a majority stake six years ago. The Getty family, which had kept a minority stake in Getty, will pay around $250 million for Carlyle’s equity stake and roll over the company’s roughly $2.35 billion of debt, the newswire said. Carlyle bought more than half of Getty Images in 2012 from Hellman & Friedman, via a leveraged buyout.

Getty Images has started to refinance its balance sheet, including the existing senior secured credit agreement the parties to which are the company, the guarantors and JP Morgan as administrative agent.

The process is expected to conclude in two to three months and may involve marketing a combination of loans, senior notes and preferred equity, a statement from Getty Images said.

As part of the change, Getty Images' chief executive, Dawn Airey, will become a non-executive director and chief operating officer, and Craig Peters will assume the role of CEO. When the transaction is completed, interim chief financial officer, Rik Powell, will become CFO. Mark Getty will become chairman of the board. Getty Images co-founder Jonathan Klein, the current chairman, will remain on as deputy chairman. Klein keeps all his equity interest in the company alongside the Getty family and members of management.