Book publishers unveil merger deal

Britain’s Pearson and Germany’s Bertelsmann are to merge their publishing units, Penguin and Random House, to recover ground lost to technology groups.

Education and media publisher Pearson said the newly created joint venture, which will bring under one roof fantasy novelist Terry Pratchett, Fifty Shades of Grey author EL James, and 2012 Nobel prize winner Mo Yan, would be named Penguin Random House.

Confirmation of a deal came after months of Pearson board discussions and despite an informal approach from Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, which was interested in combining Penguin with its Harper Collins publishing unit.