Statement of preliminary issues available for Random House/Penguin clearance application

The Commerce Commission has published a statement of preliminary issues relating to an application from Bertelsmann SE & Co. (owner of Random House) and Pearson plc (owner of Penguin) seeking clearance to form a new jointly-owned company to be called Penguin Random House, which will acquire the retail book publishing businesses of Random House and Penguin.

The statement of preliminary issues outlines the key competition issues that the Commission currently considers will be important in deciding whether or not to grant clearance.

The Commission’s statement of preliminary issues and the public version of Hirepool’s application are available on the Commission’s website at www.comcom.govt.nz/clearances-register/

The Commission invites submission from parties who consider they have relevant information for the Commission’s consideration.

Submissions can be sent to registrar@comcom.govt.nz with the reference Penguin/Random House in the subject line of the email, or to PO Box 2351, Wellington 6140 by 4pm, Friday 1 February 2013.

Background

A fact sheet explaining how the Commission assesses mergers and acquisitions is available at www.comcom.govt.nz/merger-assessment/

Media contact:  Jenny Bridgen, Senior Communications Advisor
Phone work (04) 924 3709, mobile 021 225 4454

Commission media releases can be viewed at www.comcom.govt.nz/media-releases/