Big Law
Judge Blocks Merger Between Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster
The proposed merger of book publishers Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster was blocked by a U.S. federal judge on Oct. 31.
Judge Florence Pan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled in favor of the Justice Department, which in November 2021 sued to halt Penguin Random House’s $2.2 billion acquisition of Simon & Schuster on antitrust grounds.
The trial, which took place in August, lasted 13 days. Literary agents and best-selling authors, including Stephen King, testified the proposed merger would harm competition in the publishing industry and negatively affect the income of writers.
