The Department of Justice has closed its investigation into the merger of Penguin and Random House, removing a major roadblock in the merger process. The publishers hope to close the deal by the second half of the year.
Parent companies Pearson and Bertelsmann revealed the news in a statement, noting that the DOJ ended the investigation “without conditions.” Nevertheless, the merger still faces scrutiny from other groups. Here’s more from the release:
The proposed merger is currently under review by the European Commission, the Canadian Competition Bureau and various other antitrust authorities around the world. Pearson and Bertelsmann continue to expect the transaction to close in the second half of 2013, after all necessary approvals have been received. Following completion, Bertelsmann will own 53% and Pearson 47% of Penguin Random House. It will encompass all of Random House and Penguin Group’s publishing units in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa, as well as Penguin’s operations in China and Random House’s publishers in Spain and Latin America.