Legendary book publisher Simon & Schuster is for sale.
Just three months after the merger of Viacom and CBS, the new leadership has concluded that the New York publishing house, known for the works of such authors as Stephen King, Susan Orlean, Bob Woodward and Hillary Clinton, no longer is a core part of the company. ViacomCBS Chief Executive Bob Bakish made the announcement Wednesday morning at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telcom Conference.
Bakish said that he's fielded several unsolicited requests about whether the company would sell the iconic publisher, and the answer is "yes."
It is unclear how much ViacomCBS might fetch from the sale. Book publishing is no longer a growth business but its revenue has been relatively stable in recent years, and Simon & Schuster has some of the world's most recognizable authors, including Mary Higgins Clark and Doris Kearns Goodwin. The publishing house probably will be sold to another publishing firm looking to merge assets and create cost savings.
When CBS controlled Simon & Schuster, the company created synergies by booking its authors on "60 Minutes," which explored timely and provocative subject matter. But now the publishing house is part of a larger corporation that is eager to sell assets to pay down debt.
Simon & Schuster was founded in 1924 by Richard L. "Dick" Simon and M. Lincoln "Max" Schuster. Their initial project was a crossword puzzle book, which was a roaring success. The company has since grown to become a diverse house that publishes approximately 2,000 titles a year. It divisions include Simon & Schuster Publishing, Scribner Publishing Group, Atria Publishing Group and Gallery Publishing. Simon & Schuster and its imprints have won 56 Pulitzer Prizes and numerous National Book Awards and Newbery and Caldecott Medals.
ViacomCBS' stock has been bludgeoned since the merger was announced in August. The combination was completed in early December.
The company previously announced the sale of the landmark CBS headquarters building in Midtown Manhattan, known as Black Rock. The company plans to use the proceeds from the two sales to pay down debt, pay dividends to shareholders and buy back stock.
"It's a tremendous value creation opportunity," Bakish said.
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