Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterAttorneys for Penguin Random House and ViacomCBS argued on Monday that the proposed sale of Simon & Schuster will benefit authors, and should not be blocked under federal antitrust law.The Department of Justice filed the suit last month, seeking to block ViacomCBS from selling Simon & Schuster to Bertelsmann, the parent of Penguin Random House, in a $2.1 billion transaction.Penguin Random House is the world’s largest publisher, and Simon & Schuster is the fourth largest.
The government argued that the combination would reduce advances for top-selling authors and would ultimately harm consumers by resulting in fewer books being published.In a formal answer filed in court on Monday, the companies argued that.
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