The European Union will reportedly follow the U.S., Australia and New Zealand in approving Random House and Penguin’s merger, Reuters reported Wednesday.
Citing two unidentified sources, Reuters said that the publishers are “set to win unconditional EU regulatory approval.”
Random House and Penguin announced their merger last October, and the U.S. Department of Justice approved it quickly, in February, followed by Australia and New Zealand. Random House’s parent company Bertelsmann would own 53 percent of the combined company, and Penguin parent company Pearson would hold 47 percent. Penguin Random House would be the largest book publisher in the world, and the merger is designed to help the companies tackle emerging markets and invest in new digital models.
Reuters notes that “the spokesman for competition policy at the European Commission, Antoine Colombani, declined to comment. The EU competition authority has set an April 5 deadline for its decision.”
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