Bertelsmann Planning to Lift Penguin Random House Stake

Bertelsmann, owner of 53 percent of the New York-based business, plans to buy part or all of the 47 percent held by Pearson Plc (PSON), the people said, asking not to be named discussing private deliberations. While Bertelsmann and Pearson aren't in talks, Pearson is willing to sell and can do so starting October 2015 under a shareholder agreement, the people said. Penguin Random House, the world's largest book publisher, could be valued at 2.3 billion euros ($2.9 billion), based on a median multiple of 6.3 times paid for book publishers in the past three years and the target's 2013 earnings.