ViacomCBS To Sell Publishing Business Simon & Schuster To Penguin Random For $2.175 Bln

(RTTNews) - ViacomCBS Inc. (VIAC, VIACA) said Wednesday that it agreed to sell the publishing business Simon & Schuster to Penguin Random House LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA, for $2.175 billion in cash.

The divesture follows a strategic review of non-core assets the company undertook early in 2020.

The company said it will use proceeds from the transaction to invest in its strategic growth priorities, including in streaming, as well as to fund the dividend and pay down debt.

The transaction is expected to close in 2021,

Upon close, Simon & Schuster will continue to be managed as a separate publishing unit under the Penguin Random House umbrella, and Jonathan Karp, President & CEO of Simon & Schuster, and Dennis Eulau, COO and CFO, will continue at the helm of the publishing house.