Business News

Chinese Authorities Clear Penguin Random House

Tuesday 04. June 2013 - Another regulatory approval without conditions

Bertelsmann and Pearson confident about being able to close transaction in July 2013
The Chinese antitrust authority MOFCOM has cleared the planned merger of Penguin Group and Random House without conditions. The two international media companies Bertelsmann and Pearson welcome the Beijing authorities’ decision as an important step toward the combination of their respective publishing companies Random House and Penguin Group to form Penguin Random House.
The regulatory authorities in the U.S., Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada had approved the planned merger earlier, also each without conditions. Subject to the integration planning, Bertelsmann and Pearson are confident about being able to close the transaction in July 2013.
The new publishing group, whose planned formation the two partners announced last October, will be 53 percent owned by Bertelsmann and 47 percent by Pearson. Penguin Random House will encompass all Random House and Penguin Group publishing operations in the U.S. and U.K., China, Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa, as well as Penguin’s activities in China and Random House’s publishers in Spain and Latin America.