News Corp, the publicly-traded media giant chaired by Rupert Murdoch, is reported to be pursuing an acquisition of Simon & Schuster, the book publishing powerhouse, after it was put up for sale by its parent firm ViacomCBS in March this year. According to a report from the New York Times, ViacomCBS has fielded more than half a dozen acquisition inquiries including from News Corp, which already owns a major publishing company by the name of HarperCollins.

According to the New York Times, one of the bids for Simon & Schuster has topped $1.7 billion which is far above the reported minimum of $1.2 billion that ViacomCBS has set for the firm. Apart from News Corp, other reported bidders for Simon & Schuster include the French media conglomerate Vivendi and Penguin Random House, which is the largest book publisher in the US.

Simon & Schuster is one of the five largest book publishers in the US. It has a history that traces back to 1924 when it was set up by two businessmen, Richard Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. The publishing firm fell into the hands of Viacom after the media conglomerate acquired its parent firm, Paramount Communications, back in 1994.

Having a storied history, Viacom split itself into two in 2006 and spun out the media company CBS Inc, which took Simon & Schuster with it. 13 years after their separation, precisely in 2019, Viacom joined back together with CBS to become “ViacomCBS” and is now seeking to sell one of its most recognized assets.

Simon & Schuster currently employs about 1,350 people and publishes roughly 2,000 books per year. That News Corp is looking to acquire the company isn’t surprising, given its status as a mass media conglomerate with lots of businesses. The media firm could be looking to add another entity to its already large lineup of businesses.

Photo: “Rupert Murdoch – World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 2009” by World Economic Forum, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Share this...

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Linkedin

Whatsapp

Email

Print