Nov. 2 (UPI) -- The Justice Department on Tuesday sued against Penguin Random House's planned acquisition of one of its main competitors, Simon & Schuster.
The Biden administration said the acquisition would enable the New York City-based publishing company to "exert outsized influence over which books are published in the United States and how much authors are paid for their work."
Penguin Random House, which is the largest book publisher in the world, promised earlier this year to allow Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster editors to bid against each other post-acquisition, Publishers Weekly reported.
The Justice Department, though, believes the proposed merge would cut back on "this important competition" and result in lower advances for authors.
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"The complaint filed today to ensure fair competition in the U.S. publishing industry is the latest demonstration of the Justice Department's commitment to pursuing economic opportunity and fairness through antitrust enforcement," Attorney General Merrick Garland said.
"Books have shaped American public life throughout our nation's history, and authors are the lifeblood of book publishing in America. But just five publishers control the U.S. publishing industry. If the world's largest book publisher is permitted to acquire one of its biggest rivals, it will have unprecedented control over this important industry. American authors and consumers will pay the price of this anticompetitive merger -- lower advances for authors and ultimately fewer books and less variety for consumers."
The Justice Department's complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, said that if Penguin Random House acquires Simon & Schuster for a proposed $2.18 billion, it would put the former in control of close to half of the publishing market for top-selling books.
In response to the lawsuit, the two publishing companies said they planned to fight the lawsuit.
"DOJ's lawsuit is wrong on the facts, the law and public policy," Penguin Random House's lead trial attorney, Daniel Petrocelli, told Publishers Weekly. "We are confident that the robust and competitive landscape that exists will ensure a decision that the acquisition will promote, not harm, competition.
