Lifetouch is owned by Shutterfly Inc. , which acquired the company in an $825 million deal that closed in April 2018.

Who owns Lifetouch Photography?

  • Lifetouch is a subsidiary of Shutterfly Inc., a major U.S. photo and personalized-products company.
  • Before the sale, Lifetouch had been an employee-owned company via an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan).
  • After the acquisition closed, the ESOP was terminated and the sale proceeds were distributed to ESOP participants, making Shutterfly the sole corporate owner.

Quick industry context

  • Lifetouch remains a leading school photography brand across the U.S. and Canada under Shutterfly’s umbrella.
  • In recent years, Lifetouch has also sold some high-school photography accounts and its Prestige senior portrait brand in select markets to CADY, another volume school-photography company, but Lifetouch continues operating broadly in K–8 and some high school markets.

TL;DR: Lifetouch Photography is owned by Shutterfly Inc., which bought the previously employee-owned Lifetouch in 2018 and continues to run it as part of its broader photography and personalized-products business.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.