Exhibit 1031 ยท Court opinion
United States v. Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA, Memorandum Opinion (as amended), No. 21-cv-2886 (D.D.C.)
Together, the Big Five held nearly 60 percent of the market for the sale of trade books in 2021
After a bench trial the court enjoined Penguin Random House's proposed acquisition of Simon & Schuster. The background findings describe the five largest trade publishers (the 'Big Five') as holding nearly 60 percent of 2021 trade-book sales, state that agents prioritize submitting manuscripts to Big Five imprints because of their ability to pay, and state that the Big Five acquired other publishers to reach their position. The opinion concerns trade books and anticipated top-selling titles, not journals or textbooks.
- Source
- U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Judge Florence Y. Pan)
- Date
- 15 November 2022
- Quoted from
- Mem. Op. (Doc. 196) p. 3, Background A
- Grade
- Primary record
- Document
- https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-dcd-1_21-cv-02886/pdf/USCOURTS-dcd-1_21-cv-02886-2.pdf
- Accessed
- 2026-11-10
- Cited by
- Findings citing this exhibit
- Note
- The government PDF is a scanned image; the quoted wording was checked against the page images (header 'Document 196 Filed 11/15/22 Page 3 of 80'). The statement that agents prioritize submitting manuscripts to Big Five imprints because of their ability to pay is on PDF page 7; the statement about acquiring other publishers is on page 4.