Paramount to sell Simon & Schuster to KKR for $1.62 billion

Paramount Global agreed to sell book publisher Simon & Schuster to private equity giant KKR for $1.62 billion, the media company said Monday as it reported earnings.

KKR’s entry into the book publishing space comes months after Paramount scrapped its initial agreement to sell Simon & Schuster to rival Penguin Random House — which was valued at $2.2 billion — after a federal judge rejected the merger and it raised red flags with the government.

The deal was announced Monday after Paramount posted its second-quarter earnings.

Paramount reported revenue of $7.62 billion, down about 2% year-over-year, as the company’s TV segment was once again dragged down by lower advertising revenue.

Media companies have been grappling with a soft advertising market, particularly affecting the traditional TV business.

Advertising revenue in the TV segment fell 10%. Revenue in the TV business revenue overall dropped 2% to $5.16 billion.

Meanwhile, Paramount said its streaming business continued to grow. Paramount+ had about 61 million subscribers by the end of the quarter, and subscription revenue grew more than 47% to $1.22 billion. Advertising revenue for the streaming business rose 21%.

Paramount+ recently combined with Showtime’s streaming app, and increased its prices.

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