After two years of regulatory scrutiny, publishing industry rumours, a lengthy legal dispute, and hundreds of millions of dollars in costs, Penguin Random House's acquisition of Simon & Schuster came to an end.
The dissolution of this deal prevented the biggest publisher in the US from becoming significantly bigger. Additionally, it put a halt to industry consolidation that had been significantly altered through mergers and acquisitions with little government interference.
The transaction collapsed three weeks after a federal judge rejected Penguin Random House in an antitrust case, preventing the sale from proceeding on the grounds that the merger would hurt authors and be bad for competition. Penguin Random House needed Paramount Global, the parent company of Simon & Schuster, to prolong the purchase agreement because it expires on Tuesday in order to appeal the Oct. 31 decision. Instead, Paramount made the decision to call it quits, leaving Penguin Random House with no other choice than to pay a $200 million termination fee.
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