‘This must be stopped’: US begins court battle against publishing giants’ merger
The government and publishing titan Penguin Random House exchanged opening salvos in a federal antitrust trial Monday as the US seeks to block the biggest US book publisher from absorbing rival Simon & Schuster. The case will be a pivotal test of the Biden administration’s antitrust policy.
The justice department has sued to block the $2.2bn merger, which would reduce the Big Five US publishers to four.
“This proposed merger must be stopped,” John Read, the justice department’s attorney, said in his opening argument.
In an unusual move, the government’s star witness will be Stephen King, the renowned and genre-transcending author whose works are published by Simon & Schuster. King is expected to testify during the trial in US district court in Washington DC.
The government contends that it would hurt authors and, ultimately, readers if German media titan Bertelsmann, of which Penguin Random House is a division, is allowed to buy Simon & Schuster from US media and entertainment company Paramount Global. It says the deal would thwart competition and give Penguin Random House gigantic influence over which books are published in the US, reducing how much authors are paid and giving consumers fewer books to choose from.
The publishers counter that the merger would strengthen competition among publishers to find and sell the hottest books, by enabling the combined company to offer bigger advance payments and marketing support to authors. It would benefit readers, booksellers and authors, they say.
The two New York-based publishers have impressive stables of blockbuster authors, who have sold multiple millions of copies and have scored multimillion-dollar deals. Within Penguin Random House’s constellation are Barack and Michelle
Read more on theguardian.com
