Paramount Global is near a deal to sell its Simon & Schuster publishing operations to investment giant KKR for as much as $1.62 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter. Paramount Global, the owner of CBS, Paramount+ and Nickelodeon, is expected to report its second-quarter earnings Monday afternoon.
Paramount Global declined to make executives available for comment. Its Class B shares were up more than 2.5% in early trading Monday.
The deal will mark the second time Paramount has tried to dispose of Simon & Schuster, which has published everyone from Ernest Hemmingway to Walter Isaacson. Paramount Global had to walk away from a deal it had struck in 2021 with Penguin Random House to sell the publishing operations for $2.18 billion. The transaction was blocked by federal regulators who believed the buyer was already too big and would dominate the publishing industry. Paramount Global collected a $200 million termination fee as a result.
More to come….