Feb 19 (Reuters) - Britain's competition watchdog said

on Thursday it provisionally found concerns over UK ​editorial

content supply in the proposed ‌merger between U.S.-based Getty

Images ( GETY ) and rival Shutterstock ( SSTK ), ⁠but cleared the

deal in the global ⁠stock content market.

Both companies said ‌they ‌disagreed with the Competition and

Markets Authority's provisional finding ​on editorial content ‌and

plan to file responses by the March 12 deadline, while

continuing ​to work with ​the ‌U.S. Department of Justice on its

ongoing review of the deal.

The provisional decision ⁠marks a setback for a ⁠merger of two

of the world's largest visual content providers, as regulators

on both sides of the Atlantic scrutinize ⁠potential ‌impacts on

competition in markets serving ‌media outlets and creative

businesses.

The CMA ⁠in November said it will launch a Phase 2 review of

the $3.7 billion merger, as the remedies offered by the

companies failed to address the regulator's concerns.

Getty shares ​were up 1.9%, while Shutterstock ( SSTK ) was marginally

up at 0.9% in U.S. premarket ​trading.