Paramount has accomplished the $1.62 billion sale of e-book writer Simon & Schuster to funding agency KKR, almost a 12 months after a richer sale to Penguin Random Home ran aground over regulatory points.
The all-cash transaction, introduced final August, makes Simon & Schuster a stand-alone personal firm and the one unbiased main commerce writer. Final 12 months, a decide in an antitrust case dominated in opposition to the pending $2.2 billion acquisition by a direct competitor, citing monopoly issues and unfavourable potential impression on clients and different publishers. The deal was then formally jettisoned final November, with Bertelsmann’s Penguin Random Home paying Paramount a $200 million breakup charge.
Simon & Schuster CEO Jonathan Karp will proceed to guide the corporate, which was based in 1924.
Paramount, like its giant media rivals, is contending with a difficult working setting in linear TV and movement footage because it additionally battles to achieve profitability within the ultra-competitive streaming market. Having rebranded itself after the 2019 merger of Viacom and CBS, Paramount has lately been on the lookout for alternatives to streamline prices and scale back debt. The corporate held talks with potential consumers of a stake in BET earlier than finally placing a pin in these conversations.
“After a extremely aggressive course of, this is a perfect end result for each Simon & Schuster and Paramount,” mentioned Paramount CEO Bob Bakish in a press launch. “Simon & Schuster is positioned properly for future development, and the transaction itself demonstrates vital worth seize for Paramount and meaningfully advances our de-levering plan. It has been an honor to have Simon & Schuster as a part of our Paramount household for almost 50 years, and we want Jon and all the crew continued success as they start their new chapter with KKR.”
Karp known as the deal closing “an thrilling second for us — each a return to our roots as a standalone firm and a possibility for all of us to forge a brand new path collectively.” KKR’s sources would assist make the writer “a fair stronger firm and a extra dynamic drive in our business,” he added.
“The corporate is in a robust place to seize the chance forward, and we look ahead to constructing on Simon & Schuster’s popularity for delivering partaking and compelling books to readers everywhere in the world,” mentioned Ted Oberwager, a companion at KKR who leads the gaming, leisure, media and sports activities verticals inside the agency’s Americas personal fairness enterprise.
