KKR to Acquire Simon & Schuster from Paramount Global for $1.62 Billion
Summary
We are thrilled to invest behind Jon and the immensely talented organization at Simon & Schuster to support their mission of delivering marquee content to readers around the world,” said Ted Oberwager, a Partner who leads the gaming, entertainment, media and sports verticals within KKR’s Americas Private Equity business. Richard Sarnoff, Chairman of Media at KKR, added, “ We see a compelling opportunity to help Simon & Schuster become an even stronger partner to literary talent by investing in the expansion of the company’s capabilities and distribution networks across mediums and markets while maintaining its 99 year legacy of editorial independence. KKR is making its investment in Simon & Schuster primarily through its North America Fund XIII and has secured fully committed financing for the transaction. Simon & Schuster is a global leader in general interest publishing, dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for readers of all ages, and in all printed, digital and audio formats. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, among others: risks related to our streaming business; the adverse impact on our advertising revenues as a result of changes in consumer viewership, advertising market conditions and deficiencies in audience measurement; risks related to operating in highly competitive industries, including cost increases; our ability to maintain attractive brands and to offer popular content; changes in consumer behavior, as well as evolving technologies and distribution models; the potential for loss of carriage or other reduction in or the impact of negotiations for the distribution of our content; damage to our reputation or brands; risks related to our ongoing investments in new businesses, products, services, technologies and other strategic activities; losses due to asset impairment charges for goodwill, intangible assets, FCC licenses and programming; risks related to environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters; evolving business continuity, cybersecurity, privacy and data protection and similar risks; content infringement; domestic and global political, economic and regulatory factors affecting our businesses generally; the impact of COVID-19 and other pandemics and measures taken in response thereto; liabilities related to discontinued operations and former businesses; the loss of existing or inability to hire new key employees or secure creative talent; strikes and other union activity, including the ongoing Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strikes; volatility in the price of our common stock; potential conflicts of interest arising from our ownership structure with a controlling stockholder; and other factors described in our news releases and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and reports on Form 10-Q and Form 8-K.