Penguin Group is a British trade book publisher and part of
Penguin Random House, which is owned by the German
mediaconglomerateBertelsmann. The new company was created by a
merger that was finalised on 1 July 2013, with Bertelsmann initially owning 53% of the joint venture, and
Pearson PLC initially owning the remaining 47%.[2] Since 18 December 2019, Penguin Random House has been wholly owned by Bertelsmann.[3]
Penguin Books Ltd. (est. 1935) of the United Kingdom was bought by
Pearson Longman in 1970. In 1975, Penguin acquired the American hardcover firm
Viking Press.[6] In 1986, Penguin acquired the
New American Library, a mass-market paperback publisher.[7] In 1995, Penguin acquired the independent publisher Donald I. Fine.[8]
Penguin Group (USA) Inc. was formed in 1996 as a result of the merger between Penguin Books USA and the
Putnam Berkley Group after Penguin acquired Putnam Berkley from
MCA.[9][10] The newly formed company was originally called Penguin Putnam Inc., but, in 2003, it changed its name to Penguin Group (USA) Inc. to reflect the parent Pearson PLC's grouping of all the Penguin companies worldwide under the supervisory umbrella of Pearson's own Penguin Group division.
The different Penguin companies use many
imprints, many of which used to be independent publishers.[11] Penguin Group (USA) Inc. also operates its own speaker's bureau that books speaking engagements for many of the publisher's authors. In 2011, the online writing and publishing community
Book Country was launched as a subsidiary of Penguin Group USA.[12]
On 11 April 2012, the
United States Department of Justice filed United States v. Apple Inc., naming
Apple, Penguin, and four other major publishers as defendants. The suit alleged that they conspired to
fix prices for
e-books and weaken
Amazon.com's position in the market in violation of
antitrust law.[13] In December 2013, a federal judge approved a settlement of the antitrust claims, in which Penguin and the other publishers paid into a fund that provided credits to customers who had overpaid for books due to the price-fixing.[14]
On 26 October 2012, Pearson entered into talks with rival conglomerate
Bertelsmann, over the possibility of combining their respective publishing companies, Penguin Group and
Random House. The houses were considered two of the 'Big Six' publishing companies prior to the merger,[15] which became the 'Big Five' upon its completion. The
European Union approved the
Penguin Random House merger on 5 April 2013.