Paramount strikes a deal to sell Simon & Schuster

It's official: Simon & Schuster has been sold to a private equity firm.

The New York Times, among other outlets, has reported that Paramount struck a deal worth $1.62 billion to transfer control of one of the biggest book publishers.

The purchase is being publicly touted as a positive by the players involved, of course.

But Jim Milliot, editorial director of Publisher's Weekly, told NPR that he too sees the deal as beneficial.

For one, it isn't likely to raise antitrust concerns, as the previous attempt to sell Simon & Schuster did.

And for another, soon-to-be-previous owner Paramount didn't seem all that enthusiastic about the publishing industry, so more autonomy should be good for Simon & Schuster.

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