US Court Blocks Penguin Merger With Simon & Schuster

A US court has blocked a $2.2bn merger between the world's largest book publisher Penguin Random House and it's rival Simon & Schuster. <br />US District Judge Florence Pan says the deal could substantially lessen competition in the publishing industry. <br />The US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit to stop the deal last November. <br />Judge Pan says the court finds that the United States has shown that the effect of the proposed merger may be substantial to lessen competition in the market for the US publishing rights to anticipated top-selling books. <br />Penguin says that it would appeal against the decision, calling it an unfortunate setback for readers and authors.