• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, April 8, 2013

Tara Comonte, former chief financial officer at Interpublic’s McCann Worldgroup, has joined Getty Images as CFO, effective immediately, the company has confirmed.

Comonte replaces Bart Catalane, who held the CFO post at Getty since 2010.

Comonte was part of the McCann Worldgroup team led by Nick Brien, who was hired in 2010 as CEO with a mandate to turn around the struggling IPG flagship agency. But the parent company, seeing little progress after two-plus years, replaced Brien last November with Harris Diamond.

In January, Comonte quietly left and was replaced by Gary Lee, who had held the McCann CFO job before her. Previously Comonte was CFO and COO at IPG Mediabrands, where she also worked for Brien. Earlier, she held senior financial posts at Publicis Groupe’s Arc Worldwide and Leo Burnett.

Getty Images CEO Jonathan Klein stated that Comonte brings “a winning combination of strong leadership and exceptional performance on a global scale."

Getty, which distributes print images, as well video and multimedia products, has had its own challenges in recent years, with the contraction of the print world -- a core customer base. It has focused on building up the digital side of its business. Last year the investment company Carlyle Group bought a controlling stake in Getty for an estimated $3.3 billion.

Revenue-wise, Comonte appears to be jumping to a company of similar size to McCann Worldgroup, which generates an estimated annual $1 billion in revenue. Financial ratings company Moody’s estimated Getty Images 2011 revenue at $945 million, calling for a low- to-mid-single-digital increase in 2012, which would put it close to $1 billion.