CCS conducts public consultation on acquisition of Penguin Random House units by Times Publishing
SINGAPORE: The Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) is conducting a public consultation to invite feedback on the proposed acquisition by Times Publishing Ltd (TPL) of the entire issued and paid-up capital of Penguin Random House Pte Ltd and Penguin Books Malaysia Sdn Bhd (the Penguin Group Companies).
The public consultation, beginning today till Feb 6, 2017, was also for entry into an exclusive distribution agreement by Penguin Group Companies with four publishers.
In a statement here today, CCS said, TPL has applied for the decision whether the transaction will infringe the prohibition in the Competition Act against anticompetitive merger if brought into effect.
TPL is a wholly-owned unit of Fraser and Neave (F&N), providing publishing, printing, distribution and retail services worldwide, through its subsidiaries.
The Penguin Group Companies, wholly- owned subsidiaries of Penguin Random House Ltd (PRH), provide sales and marketing services for the international clients they represent.
According to TPL, the company ( through Pansing and Pansing Malaysia) and Penguin Group Companies overlapped only in the provision of marketing and distribution of English language trade books via physical platforms in Singapore and Malaysia.
The relevant market for the proposed transaction is the intermediary market for marketing and distribution of Englishlanguage print-only trade books, via physical and online platforms, globally.
The relevant market is highly competitive, in view of the multitude of vertically-integrated publishers, independent distributors, online platforms and overseas manufacturers.
Non-coordinated effects would not arise in the provision of marketing and distribution of English-language trade books via physical platforms in Singapore, as a result of the proposed transaction.
TPL noted that the characteristics of the relevant market precluded the possibility of anti-competitive coordinated effects. — Bernama