Empics lost out in the original bidding for full rights to both collections, which extend to news, royalty and celebrity photographs and were bought by Alpha five years ago.
But the new deal will see Empics act as Alpha’s exclusive sales agents for all the sporting photography included in that sale.
Phil O’Brien, Empics founder and CEO, said: “This is a collection we have had our eye on for over 10 years. We missed out on acquiring the collection outright in 1996, but this arrangement for just the sports material is an excellent way of working for all parties. The depth of sports photography we can now offer is second to none.”
