US begins court battle against publishing giants' merger

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government and publishing titan Penguin Random House are set to exchange opening salvos in a federal antitrust trial Monday as the U.S. seeks to block the biggest U.S. book publisher from absorbing rival Simon & Schuster. The case comes as a key test of the Biden administration’s antitrust policy.

The Justice Department has sued to block the $2.2 billion merger, which would reduce the Big Five U.S. publishers to four.

In an unusual move, the government’s star witness will be Stephen King, the renowned and genre-transcending author whose works are published by Simon & Schuster. King is expected to testify during the weekslong trial in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

The government contends that it would hurt authors and, ultimately, readers if German media titan Bertelsmann, of which Penguin Random House is a division, is allowed to buy Simon & Schuster from U.S. media and entertainment company Paramount Global. It says the deal would thwart competition and give Penguin Random House gigantic influence over which books are published in the U.S., likely reducing how much authors are paid and giving consumers fewer books to choose from.

The publishers counter that the merger would strengthen competition among publishers to find and sell the hottest books, by enabling the combined company to offer bigger advance payments and marketing support to authors. It would benefit readers, booksellers and authors, they say.

Opposing attorneys for the two sides will present their cases before U.S. District Judge Florence Pan.

The two New York-based publishers have impressive stables of blockbuster authors, who’ve sold multiple millions of copies and have scored multimillion-dollar deals. Within Penguin Random House’s constellation are Barack...