WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Horror author Stephen King said in testimony on Tuesday in a trial to determine if Penguin Random House will be allowed to merge with Simon & Schuster that consolidation in the book industry is bad for competition.
In a trial that began on Monday, the U.S. Justice Department is arguing that a federal judge should block a $2.2 billion merger of two of the “Big Five” book publishers in a trial that is expected to also feature testimony from the chief executives of the two publishers. [L1N2ZD1D1]
The government is arguing that the deal would lead to lower advances for some authors who earn $250,000 or more rather than a more traditional argument that consumers would pay more for books.
King took issue with pledges that the companies have made to allow Simon & Schuster imprints, basically different brands of books, to continue to bid against Penguin Random House independently for books.
“You might as well say you’re going to have a husband and wife bidding against each other for the same house. It’s kind of ridiculous,” he said in court.
(Reporting by Diane Bartz and David Shepardson; Editing by Mark Porter)
