Penguin’s £1.9bn merger with US books giant is halted by judge
A planned $2.2 billion (£1.9 billion) merger of publishing giants Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster has been halted by a US court ruling.
Federal judge Florence Pan said the merger could substantially lessen competition “in the market for the US publishing rights to anticipated top-selling books.”
She said she agreed with the US government that the deal should be stopped because the pair would control half the market for blockbuster books and a merger would also lower advances for authors who earn $250,000 (£216,00) or more.
Penguin Random House, the world’s largest publisher whose writers include Zadie Smith and Danielle Steele, said the decision was “unfortunate” and it plans an immediate appeal. Hillary Clinton is among the big names represented by Simon & Schuster.
US assistant attorney general Jonathan Kanter said the merger “would have reduced competition, decreased author compensation, diminished the breadth, depth, and diversity of our stories and ideas, and ultimately impoverished our democracy.”
