London, Oct 26 (ANI): Popular book publishing houses Penguin and Random House are planning to merge into a single powerhouse in a 2.4 billion pound deal.
Pearson, which owns Penguin, said on Thursday it is in talks with Bertelsmann, the German media giant, which owns international publisher Random House, about combining the publishing assets.
Bertelsmann would own more than half of the joint venture, the Telegraph reports.
Pearson and Bertelsmann hope that joining forces will give their publishing assets the scale they need to compete with the growing challenges to their business.
According to the paper, the two companies are likely to face major regulatory issues before they get a deal away, with their rivals likely to call for competition authorities on both sides of the Atlantic to review the deal.
The combined entity would have around a 27 percent share of the UK's book publishing market and 25 percent share in the US.
Random House and Penguin would also have to pick their way through the legal row with the US authorities, which has already rocked the books industry this year and raised competition fears, the paper said. (ANI)
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