Paramount Global has put its book publishing house on sale again, inviting bidders. HarperCollins and KKR & Co are two of the leading names in the list of bidders, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Last year, Penguin Random House entered into a $2.2bn deal with the media company to buy Simon & Schuster. But the merger collapsed after the federal judge Florence Pan blocked the sale, claiming that the merger of the industry-dominating publishers could make the market less competitive for the best-selling books.
Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Department of Justice (DOJ) favored the decision. He said,
“The proposed merger would have reduced competition, decreased author compensation, diminished the breadth, depth, and diversity of our stories and ideas, and ultimately impoverished our democracy.”
HarperCollins is confident that it won’t meet a similar fate. HarperCollins is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies and is headquartered in New York City. It’s a subsidiary of News Corp.
Navkiran Dhaliwal is a seasoned content writer with 10+ years of experience. When she's not writing, she can be found cooking up a storm or spending time with her dog, Rain.
