![Bertelsmann, which also owns a broad portfolio of broadcast, music and online businesses, said it would buy publisher Simon & Schuster [File: Michael Sohn/AP Photo]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/bertel.jpg?resize=770%2C513)
German media giant Bertelsmann said Wednesday that it is buying publisher Simon & Schuster from ViacomCBS for $2.17bn in cash, Bertelsmann says the New York-based firm, whose authors include Stephen King, Hillary Clinton and John Irving, will become a unit within it’s book-publishing division Penguin Random House.
“Simon & Schuster strengthens Bertelsmann’s footprint globally, and particular in the United States, its second-largest market,” the Guetersloh-based company said in a statement. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close during 2021, it said.
Bertelsmann said Simon & Schuster’s current president and chief executive, Jonathan Karp, will continue to lead the publishing house.
Bertelsmann, which was founded in 1835 and also owns a broad portfolio of broadcast, music and online businesses, has been the sole owner of Penguin Random House since April.
