ViacomCBS Nearing Sale Of Simon & Schuster To Germany's Bertelsmann

(RTTNews) - ViacomCBS Inc. (VIAC, VIACA) is nearing a deal to sell its book publishing business Simon & Schuster to German media giant Bertelsmann AG, which owns Penguin Random House, in more than $2 billion deal, according to The Financial Times.

A deal could be announced as soon as this week. As per reports, News Corp.'s HarperCollins and French media company Vivendi SA are also in the race to buy Simon & Schuster.

Bertelsmann earlier has stated its plans for Penguin Random House unit to grow organically and through M&A. If succeeding, the acquisition of Simon & Schuster is expected to make Bertelsmann the world's biggest book publisher.