The
US Department of Justice has provided an unexpected Valentine to Penguin and
Random House: The department notified Bertelsmann and Pearson "that it has
closed its investigation into the proposed merger of Penguin and Random House,
without conditions," according to a statement. The swift approval is
remarkable, particularly since the DOJ took roughly nine months to sign off on
the much smaller acquisition of Thomas Nelson by HarperCollins. (The merger
deal was announced in October 2012.) That also makes the US the first country
to approve the proposed merger. Review is still underway in Canada, at the
European Commission, and with "various other antitrust authorities around
the world." The companies say they "continue to expect the transaction
to close in the second half of 2013, after all necessary approvals have been
received."
Bertelsmann ceo Thomas Rabe says in a statement: We are very pleased that theU.S. Department Of Justice has concluded its review and made a determination to clear the planned combination of Random House and Penguin without any conditions. This positive first decision by one of the antitrust authorities is an important milestone on the path to uniting two of the world’s leading publishing companies into a truly global publishing group."
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