October 2012

Maitland is advising Bertelsmann and its subsidiary Random House on its proposed merger with Penguin to create Random House Penguin. The combination brings together two of the world's leading English language publishers, with highly complementary skills and strengths.

Under the terms of the agreement, Penguin and Random House will combine their businesses in a newly-created joint venture named Penguin Random House. Bertelsmann will own 53% of the joint venture and Pearson will own 47%. The joint venture will exclude Bertelsmann's trade publishing business in Germany and Pearson will retain rights to use the Penguin brand in education markets worldwide.

Contacts: Neil Bennett and David Sturken.