Topline
Paramount Global struck a deal on Monday to sell off publishing giant Simon & Schuster to private equity firm KKR for $1.62 billion, the media company announced, two years after a colossal deal to sell the publisher fell apart due to antitrust issues.
Paramount Global agreed to a deal to sell Simon & Schuster for $1.62 billion.
Key Facts
KKR will acquire the publisher in an all-cash transaction, Paramount announced, making Simon & Schuster a standalone private company under its current CEO Jonathan Karp and COO Dennis Eulau.
Key Background
The deal marks the end of a saga to sell the 99-year-old publishing company, after it announced plans in late 2020 to sell to Penguin Random House for $2.2 billion. That deal was quashed last year, after the Department of Justice won a lawsuit to block the deal one year earlier, alleging the acquisition would stifle competition and result in less money for authors and fewer books published,
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Further Reading
Here’s Why The Biden Administration Is Trying To Block Penguin Random House From Buying Simon & Schuster (Forbes)