The merger of Penguin and Random House took effect today. You can visit the new Penguin Random House webpage.
According to the company, the new mega-publisher counts more than 10,500 employees in nearly 250 imprints and publishing houses. In all, they publish over 15,000 new titles every year. Random House issued this press release:
The global senior executive team for Penguin Random House was announced today by Chief Executive Officer Markus Dohle, following the closing of the transaction by shareholders Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA and Pearson this morning to formally establish the venture. Bertelsmann owns 53% and Pearson 47% of the company.
Penguin also released a brief statement:
Today, Penguin Random House becomes the first truly global trade book publisher. Unifying two of the most famous names in publishing, the Penguin Random House stable of writers includes more than 70 Nobel Prize laureates and hundreds of the world’s most widely read and best-loved authors … Penguin Random House comprises the adult and children’s fiction and non-fiction print and digital trade book publishing businesses of Penguin and Random House in the U.K., U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India, Penguin’s trade publishing activity in Asia, and South Africa; as well as Dorling Kindersley worldwide, and Random House’s companies in Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, and Chile.