ViacomCBS looks to sell S&S

In the US, mass media company ViacomCBS is planning to sell Simon & Schuster, reports Publishers Weekly.

At a Morgan Stanley investor conference, ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish said it will ‘engage in the process of selling the company’ when the market stabilises, stating that S&S is not a core asset, and that it had received unsolicited interest from companies about buying the publishing house in the past.

S&S president and CEO Carolyn Reidy addressed Bakish’s announcement in a letter to staff. ‘Whatever the outcome, this process does not change what we know to be true of Simon & Schuster,’ Reidy wrote. ‘We are a great publishing house and one of the world’s best known publishing brands, with an incredible legacy and bright future. We have a tremendous track record of producing bestsellers in every category and format, and for readers of every age. We have a history of strong and long lasting relationships with our authors, and we will continue to bring important voices to readers around the world, both with our current publishing and our rich backlist of perennially favorite titles.’

S&S’s portfolio includes 17 adult imprints, 11 children’s imprints, two audio publishing imprints, international branches in Australia, Canada, India and the UK, as well as a distribution business.

The merger of S&S parent company CBS with Viacom was completed in December last year. As previously reported by Books+Publishing, revenue and profits were down at S&S in 2019.

Category: International news