Well, Penguin and Random House are in merger talks!

I found out via PV (of course), but I think the most-detailed report on this is in The Guardian, which also has the advantage of being in English and not requiring registration. Apparently if the deal goes through, Random House's parent company, Bertlesmann, will have the majority stake.

It's interesting because the combined entity would control more than 25% of the UK book business, which would trigger an antitrust investigation. The Guardian quotes an optimist who notes that, since Amazon is eating everyone's lunch anyway, antitrust probably won't be a concern. But the Financial Times notes that, hm, Penguin is already in trouble with antitrust authorities in the United States....