ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish announced today that the media conglomerate may seek a buyer for Simon & Schuster, one of the remaining “big five” publishers of books and traditional print media like comics.
Bakish said the publishing house is a “marquee asset that’s highly valuable,” but also said, “It’s not a core asset of the company. It is not video-based. It doesn’t have significant connectivity to our broader businesses.” He added that there has been interest in acquiring Simon & Schuster, and concluded, “As this market stabilizes, we’ll engage in a process and look at strategic alternatives for Simon & Schuster.”
Simon & Schuster’s CEO, Carolyn Reidy, gave further confirmation of the intent to sell, saying that ViacomCBS has already begun the process of selling off the esteemed publisher, but emphasizing that the sale would not change “what we know to be true about Simon & Schuster.”
Potential buyers include fellow big five publishing houses HarperCollins (owned by News Corp) and Hachette Book Group (owned by SCA).
Since opening in 1924, Simon & Schuster has published F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Stephen King, and Ursula K. LeGuin, among other literary luminaries. It is also the home of Star Trek novels and a wide range of comic books and graphic novels, from Star Wars and Firefly series to a wide array of manga. The publisher has been owned by Viacom since 1994, but since merging with CBS last year, ViacomCBS has pivoted to producing and distributing video through its many television networks, movie studios and streaming services.
ViacomCBS is also in the process of acquiring a 49% stake in Miramax, which will give the media giant access to an extensive film library which includes acclaimed titles such as Pulp Fiction. The heavy attention to video content distribution makes owning a publishing house less relevant to the company’s overarching goals than ever, despite the direct access to optionable IP it provides.