KKR Buys Simon & Schuster, Gives Employees Shared Ownership

Posted in: Comics | Tagged: KKR, Penguin Random House

Simon & Schuster has formally confirmed the completion of the sale to the worldwide funding agency KKR for a reduced $1.62 billion.

Three years in the past, Bleeding Cool reported that Penguin Random House had purchased fellow guide writer Simon & Schuster from ViacomCBS for $2.175 billion. The unique distributor of Marvel Comics, Dark Horse, and IDW shopping for up the unique distributor of Boom Studios, Oni Press and Rebellion to US bookstores. And they’d have gotten away with it too, if it wasn’t for these pesky people on the US Federal District Court for Washington, DC who blocked the sale beneath Monopoly regulation.

Now Simon & Schuster has formally confirmed the completion of the sale of S&S to the worldwide funding agency KKR for a reduced $1.62 billion. Their CEO Jonathan Karp wrote to workers “I believe our relationship with KKR will enable us to become an even greater version of what we already are: a company that strives for–and succeeds at–attracting and keeping a roster of the most talented authors, with a workforce of dedicated and highly motivated professionals; a pre-eminent publisher, for all kinds of readers, in all formats; a company that takes risks, seizes opportunities and cherishes innovation in its publishing and business practices. With KKR’s resources and support, we intend to become an even stronger company and a more dynamic force in our industry, while still maintaining our well-established record of editorial excellence and independence. Our new parent company will enable Simon & Schuster to be the first American publisher of our size in which employees share ownership. Although many of us already feel ownership of our work, by sharing in the ownership of the company itself, we will be a magnet for the best publishing talent and have more of a voice in charting our collective future. We will share information about our progress and our challenges more regularly.”

KKR & Co. Inc., also referred to as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American world funding firm, the founders of whom had been credited with inventing leveraged buyouts within the Sixties and Seventies. And they already personal 1-800-Contacts, Gibson Guitars, US Foods, Safeway, Envision Healthcare, AppLovin… however nothing within the publishing area sufficient to trigger the US authorities fear.

KKR companion Ted Oberwager says “The company is in a strong position to capture the opportunity ahead, and we look forward to building on Simon & Schuster’s reputation for delivering engaging and compelling books to readers all over the world.”

And loads of graphic novels too… Penguin Random House will simply need to accept being the most important guide writer within the USA.

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