Ryanair Warns Summer Airfares May Stay Lower as Quarterly Profit Misses Estimates 
Moonshot Launches Kimi K3, China's Largest Open-Source AI Model 
Foxconn Wins First SpaceX AI Server Contract Worth Estimated $52 Billion 
U.S. Imposes 25% Tariff on Select Brazilian Imports After Section 301 Trade Investigation 
GameStop Raises eBay Stake to 9.8% as Ryan Cohen Pushes $56 Billion Takeover Bid 
Asian Markets Cautious as Oil Tops $90, AI Earnings and Fed Rate Fears Weigh on Sentiment 
South Korea’s Coupang Fine Sparks U.S. Criticism, Raising Concerns Over Bilateral Ties 
Asian Stocks Slide as Chip Selloff Deepens Ahead of TSMC Earnings 
Gold Prices Head for Biggest Weekly Loss Since June as Fed Rate Outlook Weighs 
SpaceX Targets Thursday Launch for Starship's 13th Test Flight After Last-Minute Delay 
DeepSeek Eyes $74 Billion Valuation Ahead of Planned China IPO 
Samsung Cuts U.S. Consumer Electronics Jobs as Headquarters Moves to Texas 
TSMC Sees Multi-Year AI Chip Demand as Arizona Expansion Reaches $265 Billion 
Gold Prices Slip as Oil Rally Fuels Inflation Fears, Strengthens Dollar 
Samsung Biologics Launches $1.81 Billion Bid to Acquire PolyPeptide 
China Holds Loan Prime Rates Steady for 14th Month as Economic Recovery Remains Uneven 
Simon & Schuster, a publishing company owned by Paramount Global, has been sold to KKR & Co. Inc., a private equity firm based in New York. The companies reached an agreement for the acquisition worth $1.62 billion.
Paramount Global said on Monday, Aug. 7, it will sell Simon & Schuster to KKR, which is entering the book publishing market through this deal. The publishing house is one of the largest and most reputable ones in the publication industry in the United States, but the mass media and entertainment firm has been trying to sell it for months.
The transaction between Paramount Global and KKR PEF company comes several months after a court rejected the former’s merger with Penguin Random House. The company was supposed to sell it to Penguin, but a federal judge blocked it when they said the acquisition may result in unfair business within the publishing sector.
As per The New York Times, the acquisition of Simon & Schuster will put its new owner in control of well-known authors such as Stephen King. This is very beneficial to KKR, which is trying to expand its presence in the publishing industry.
Some of the major executives involved in Paramount Global and KKR’s deal for Simon & Schuster include Richard Sarnoff, the head of the private equity firm’s media, entertainment, and technology group and Ted Oberwager, a member of RBMedia’s board. Sarnoff previously worked for Bertelsmann, which owns Penguin Random House.
In any case, it was in 2020 when Simon & Schuster was first put up for sale and negotiations through the years apparently failed. Under its new owner, KKR, the employees of Simon & Schuster will be granted ownership stake in the company, and this is part of the deal.
BBC News reported that Paramount Global’s president, Bob Bakish, said that the money they will get from the sale of Simon & Schuster will give its entertainment business greater "financial flexibility." It will also provide the company with available cash for content production on its streaming service, Paramount+.
Photo by: ActuaLitté/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
