As Judge Florence Pan makes painfully clear in her now-issued full “memorandum opinion” blocking Penguin Random House’s acquisition of Simon & Schuster, in her view it was never a close case: She finds in favor of all of the government’s key arguments and building blocks, and positively scoffs at many of the defendants’ “medley of other arguments.” Along the way, she provides multiple burns — of PRH in particular and the Big Five in general, including the contention the merger would have no effect on advances (“incredible”); PRH’s bidding pledges (“the Court gives no weight to this unenforceable promise”); PRH’s […]
