Antitrust Trial

On Monday afternoon after the close of the stock market in the US, Paramount Global confirmed in an SEC filing that they have terminated the agreement to sell Simon & Schuster to Bertelsmann, following the enjoining of the sale on antitrust grounds by Judge Florence Pan. The company says, “On November 21, 2022, Paramount terminated […]

Paramount will not extend the deadline for Penguin Random House’s purchase of Simon & Schuster to wait for a judicial appeal, sources first told Reuters (quickly followed by the NYT and the WSJ). The purchase agreement is thought to expire on or about November 21 (it was executed on November 24, 2020). Under the reported […]

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 […]

There are a lot of thinly-formed hot takes following Judge Florence Pan’s ruling Monday blocking Penguin Random House’s planned acquisition of Simon & Schuster for $2.175 billion, but the WSJ points directly to what is likely the most important next step: Will S&S parent company Paramount Global agree to give Bertelsmann more time to await […]

As expected if you were following along during The Trial, Judge Florence Pan issued a brief order late Monday blocking Penguin Random House’s acquisition of Simon & Schuster. “Upon review of the extensive record and careful consideration of the parties’ arguments, the Court finds that the United States has shown that ‘the effect of [the […]