German media giant Bertelsmann said that its
Penguin Random House division is buying rival
Simon & Schuster in a megadeal that would
reshape the U.S. publishing industry.
Penguin Random House, already the largest
American publisher, will buy the New York-
based Simon & Schuster, whose authors include
Stephen King, Hillary Clinton and John Irving,
from TV and film company ViacomCBS for $2.17
billion in cash.
“Simon & Schuster strengthens Bertelsmann’s
footprint globally, and (particularly) in the U.S.,
its second-largest market,” the Guetersloh,
Germany-based company said in a statement.
The purchase of Simon & Schuster would reduce
the so-called Big Five of American publishing
— which also includes HarperCollins, Hachette
Book Group and Macmillan — to four.