Cengage and McGraw-Hill Education’s goal of creating a major educational publisher to compete with market leader Pearson has been abandoned, due to the sell-off conditions imposed by US regulators.
The US Department of Justice is reported to have demanded that the combined publisher divest around $175m of assets. But the deal also faced regulatory challenge in the UK and AsiaPacific where regulators have been concerned that the “merger of equals” “could lead to students paying more for essential textbooks and educational materials.” The regulators in the US, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK have reportedly been collaborating in their enquiries.
Both parties conceded that trading uncertainty arising from Covid-19 also contributed to the decision to scrap the merger. Of course.
