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U.S. Justice Department Approves Penguin & Random House Merger
posted on by Lynzee Loveridge
British media conglomerate Pearson and German media corporation Bertelsmann stated that the U.S. Justice Department approved the merger of the companies' Penguin and Random House branches, thus creating the world's leading trade publisher. The merged company will be called Penguin Random House. Bertelsmann will own 53%, while Pearson will hold 47% of the new company.
According the The Hollywood Reporter, the merged publishers would control about 25 percent of the book market and earn a total revenue of about US$3 billion.
Random House managed the Del Rey Manga imprint before Kodansha USA started taking over their publishing duties in 2010. Random House distributes the Kodansha USA-published volumes as part of its Random House Publishing Services (RHPS) division. The Penguin Books has licensed a few manga titles, including Barefoot Gen (since expired) and several manga biographies.
Source: Deadline
