New York CNN —Paramount has agreed to sell Simon & Schuster to private equity firm KKR for $1.6 billion in cash, after more than three years of trying to offload the book publishing powerhouse. Paramount posted Simon & Schuster for sale in 2020. In November 2022, Paramount ended its agreement to sell Simon & Schuster to Penguin Random House in what would have been a $2.2 billion deal. In October 2022, US District Court Judge Florence Pan ruled the combination of the book publishing giants would illegally reduce competition. The private equity firm also sold audiobook publisher RBMedia to H.I.G Capital this year after acquiring it in 2018.

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Persons: Simon, Schuster, Bob Bakish, ” Bakish, Jonathan Karp, Dennis Eulau, Biden, Florence Pan, Penguin, RBMedia Organizations: New, New York CNN, Paramount, KKR, Paramount Global, Random, Justice, Elliott Management, Barnes & Nobles, Amazon, H.I.G, & $, & $ Locations: New York, Barnes