KKR to acquire S&S

Paramount Global—the owner of Simon & Schuster (S&S)—and private equity firm KKR have announced an agreement for KKR to acquire S&S for US$1.62 (A$2.47) billion in an all-cash transaction.

In a statement, Paramount said that following the deal S&S would become a standalone private company and would continue to be led by president and CEO Jonathan Karp and COO and CFO Dennis Eulau, with KKR to ‘support numerous growth initiatives, including extending Simon & Schuster’s strong domestic publishing program across various genres and categories, expanding its distribution relationships and accelerating growth in international markets.’

‘All of the executives at Simon & Schuster who met with KKR came away from those conversations impressed with the depth of KKR’s interest in our business and their commitment to helping us grow, thrive and become an even stronger company,’ said Karp. ‘With KKR’s support, we look forward to collaborating on new strategies that will enhance our ability to provide readers a great array of books and to give authors the best possible publication they can receive.’

The statement said the private equity firm, which recently reached an agreement to sell its audiobook business RBMedia, ‘will also support Simon & Schuster in creating a broad-based equity ownership program to provide all of the company’s more than 1600 employees the opportunity to participate in the benefits of ownership after the transaction closes.’

Chair of media at KKR Richard Sarnoff said: ‘We see a compelling opportunity to help Simon & Schuster become an even stronger partner to literary talent by investing in the expansion of the company’s capabilities and distribution networks across mediums and markets while maintaining its ninety-nine-year legacy of editorial independence. We also believe the opportunity to create an ownership culture within one of the world’s top publishers has enormous potential to create value for all of Simon & Schuster’s stakeholders.’

Paramount said the sale was subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. It follows a bid for S&S by Penguin Random House, which was blocked from acquiring the publisher by a US federal court ruling last year.

Category: International news