Washington, D.C. — The American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement in response to news that the Department of Justice sued today to block the proposed merger between Penguin Random House, a subsidiary of Bertelsmann, and Simon & Schuster.

“The potential combination of Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster would harm authors by reducing the number of bidders for significant book advances and harm readers by making book quality and diversity worse. The Department of Justice’s suit is important and it is another sign that the DOJ is willing to use its full authority to combat the wave of consolidation swallowing the American economy,” said Sarah Miller, Executive Director of the American Economic Liberties Project. “This case also reflects how Amazon’s dominance looms as a predatory presence for most firms in the economy. The CEOs of the number one and number three publishers openly sought to use this merger to become an ‘exceptional partner’ to Amazon.”

“This challenge is yet another signal that enforcers are beginning to revive meaningful antitrust work,” added Miller. “Following through on that commitment will require the agency to see cases like this through, abandon its ‘settlement-first strategy,’ and bring additional and more complex cases.”