Penguin Random House merger expected to be completed in July following approval in China

Tuesday, 4 June 2013 Books+Publishing

The merger of Penguin and Random House is expected to be completed next month, following the approval of the proposed merger by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) this week.

Penguin parent company Pearson said in a statement that MOFCOM ‘has cleared the planned merger … without conditions’ and that Pearson and Random House parent company Bertelsmann now ‘expect to close the transaction in July’.

China is the latest country to approve the proposed merger, following approval by the Canadian Competition Bureau and the Department of Canadian Heritage in April. Pearson said that the proposed merger has also been cleared in South Africa.

The proposed merger, which was announced by Pearson and Bertelsmann in October 2012, has also been cleared of any competition issues by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the New Zealand Commerce Commission, the US Department of Justice and the European Commission.

As previously reported by Books+Publishing, the merger will create a new company called Penguin Random House, with Bertelsmann owning 53% of the company and Pearson owning 47%. Pearson said that both companies ‘believe that the combined organisation, the world’s leading consumer publishing company, will have a stronger platform and greater resources to invest in rich content, new digital publishing models and high-growth emerging markets’.

Category: Local news