McGraw-Hill and Cengage announced May 4 that they have mutually agreed to terminate their planned merger. McGraw-Hill said “the required divestitures would have made the merger uneconomical,” while Cengage cited “a prolonged regulatory review process and the inability to agree to a divestitures package with the US Department of Justice.” Under the terms of the merger agreement, which the companies have repeatedly called a “merger of equals,” neither company will pay a termination fee. Both the DOJ and the UK’s Competition Markets Authority said the companies would have to divest certain courses where they were the chief competitors before approval. […]
