Mergers

The National Book Awards are the Oscars of the publishing industry, although nobody who attended the ceremony on November 16 at Cipriani Wall Street would likely confuse the two. Still, it wasn't without its glamour and drama. That night, Padma Lakshmi, best-selling author and former wife of Salman Rushdie - who only a few months before had been nearly murdered for his writing - was the host.  Read more

With the deadline to appeal Judge Florence Pan's October 31 decision closing in, reports from multiple media sources say that Simon & Schuster parent company Paramount Global has decided not to extend its purchase agreement, putting the sale to Penguin Random House close to collapse.  Read more

On November 7, Judge Florence Pan released her memorandum opinion blocking Penguin Random House from acquiring rival Big Five publisher Simon & Schuster-and in the final analysis, after a year of legal wrangling and a three-week trial that captivated the publishing industry, it wasn't a close case for her at all. In an economical 80-page decision, Pan found the U.S.  Read more

On August 22, oral arguments ended in the Justice Department's antitrust trial to block the book publisher Penguin Random House from merging with rival Simon & Schuster.  Read more

On the afternoon of August 10th, in the E. Barrett Prettyman federal courthouse, the Department of Justice trial to block Penguin Random House from acquiring Simon & Schuster had hit a midweek lull. The courtroom itself-as well as the overflow room, where journalists were permitted Internet access-was a few booksellers shy of crowded.  Read more