German media company Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA said Monday
it has signed the final contracts with British Pearson PLC (PSO,
PSON.LN) on the merger of their publishing companies Random House
and Penguin.
MAIN FACTS:
-Markus Dohle, previously chairman and chief executive of Random
House since June 2008, will serve as CEO of the new company,
Penguin Random House.
-John Makinson, who headed the Penguin Group from 2002, is the
company's chairman of the board of directors.
-Penguin Random House is expected to generate annual revenues of
approximately EUR3 billion ($3.9 billion)and employ more than
10,000 people worldwide across almost 250 imprints.
-Munich-based Verlagsgruppe Random House, the German-language
publishing group, will remain at Bertelsmann, outside the new
company, continuing to report to Markus Dohle.
-In October 2012, Bertelsmann's Random House and Pearson PLC'S
Penguin Group said they intended to merge into Penguin Random
House, with Bertelsmann owning a 53% stake and Pearson owning
47%.
-In April, European Union regulators approved the proposed
merger.
-Frankfurt Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires; 49-69-29725-500
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