EU antitrust body gives green light to merger of book publishing giants Random House, Penguin

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A book on display with the penguin logo. in Cirencester, England. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Tim Ireland/PA

BRUSSELS – The European Union’s antitrust watchdog is giving the green light to the proposed merger of Penguin and Random House that will create the world’s largest book publisher.

The EU Commission said Friday the deal does “not raise competition concerns, in particular because the merged entity will continue to face several strong competitors.”

Random House’s German parent company Bertelsmann SE will own 53 per cent of the venture, which will encompass all of both companies’ publishing units in the U.S. and six other countries.

Penguin, a division of Britain’s Pearson PLC media group, and Random House are two of the so-called “big six” publishers in the United States.

U.S. authorities cleared the deal in February.

The companies expect the merger to be finalized in the second half of the year.

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