The Merger of Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster Is Dead in the Water

On October 31st, a federal judge ruled against the merging of Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster, saying that it would “substantially lessen competition” in publishing. While that was a blow to the merger, it wasn’t officially over: Penguin Random House had been planning to appeal the decision. In order to do that, they would need Paramount (Simon & Schuster’s parent company) to extend the deadline for the deal. Paramount has now stated that they will not be extending it from the November 22nd deadline.

The deal falling through means that Paramount will receive a $200 million termination fee from Penguin Random House. It’s unclear what will happen to Simon & Schuster now, but they are still looking for a buyer, and Hachette and HarperCollins have both expressed interest during the trial. Simon & Schuster has has had record sales recently, and its chief executive has said, “We are more successful and valuable today than we have ever been.”