Penguin Random House CEO to resign as merger is halted

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The Chief Executive of Penguin Random House, Markus Dohle, will resign by the year’s end. His resignation comes after a US judge blocked the company’s planned $2.2 billion merger.

Penguin Random House CEO resigns

Penguin Random House is the world’s largest publishing company. The publisher had announced plans to merge with one of its greatest rivals, Simon & Schuster. However, a US court halted the merger.

Penguin Random House’s CEO has resigned due to the halted merger. The company issued a statement saying that Dohle was resigning “at his own request and on the best of mutual terms.”

The company has also added that Nihar Malaviya will take over as the new interim CEO from January 1. Malaviya is the current president and the chief operating officer at Penguin Random House US.

The head of Penguin’s German parent company Bertelsmann, Thomas Rabe, said he had confidence in Malaviya. Rabe noted that Malaviya had a chance to become the permanent CEO of the publishing company, adding that the company was considering the possibility of this happening in 2023.

Penguin is still interested in more acquisitions in the US

He added that the company would pay more attention to small and mid-sized acquisitions within the United States and other countries. Therefore, despite the halted merger with Simon & Schuster, the company was still keen to expand into the US through other acquisitions.

Rabe has also confirmed that the company would continue investing in acquiring book publishers globally. It would invest “hundred million euros” in these acquisition deals by 2025 as part of the company’s Boost strategy.

After a US judge halted the company’s merger, Bertelsmann said they would appeal the decision. However, last month, the company decided to abandon the acquisition deal after holding talks with the owner of Simon & Schuster, Paramount Global.

On October 31, US District Court Judge Florence Pan for the District of Columbia ruled that the halting of the merger was done in good faith. The judge noted that the US Justice Department had proven that if the deal had materialized, it could reduce competition for US publishing rights to some of the most popular top-selling books in the US.

With the companies abandoning the deal, Penguin will be required to pay Paramount $200 million in termination fees. Rabe noted that despite the setback seen in recent weeks, Bertelsmann was still keen on growing its presence within the United States. He added that the company was already a market leader in the US, and each acquisition deal was paramount to the company’s costs and revenues.

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Ali is a professional journalist with experience in Web3 journalism and marketing. Ali holds a Master's degree in Finance and enjoys writing about cryptocurrencies and fintech. Ali’s work has been published on a number of leading cryptocurrency publications including Capital.com, CryptoSlate, Securities.io, Invezz.com, Business2Community, BeinCrypto, and more.