US publisher faces major setback ahead of Prince Harry’s memoir release

Duke of Sussex Prince Harry’s memoir publisher faced a major setback as a federal judge blocked publishing giant Penguin Random House from acquiring its competitor Simon & Schuster, siding with the US Justice Department which had argued against the mega-merger.

The deal, worth $2.2 billion, had been announced in November 2020 and would have brought together two of the five largest American publishers.

US District Court Judge Florence Pan, in her ruling, said the government had convincingly shown that the merger would "substantially" lessen competition "in the market for the US publishing rights to anticipated top-selling books."

Pan said her full reasoning for the decision would be issued under seal, as it relied on confidential business information.

With 10,000 employees worldwide and nearly 15,000 books published per year, Penguin Random House, a subsidiary of the German Bertelsmann Group, dominates the industry in the United States.

Simon & Schuster, owned by Paramount, is the fourth largest of America´s "Big Five" publishing companies, which also include HarperCollins, Hachette Book Group USA and Macmillan Publishers.

Big-name writers on the roster at Simon & Schuster include Stephen King and Doris Kearns Goodwin, while Barack and Michelle Obama and John Grisham have books published by Penguin Random House.

It is also preparing to release Prince Harry´s memoir, in early 2023. (Web Desk/AFP)