KKR & Co Inc is in advanced talks to acquire book publisher Simon & Schuster from Paramount Global for a total of $1.65 billion, a Reuters report said, quoting people familiar with the matter. The sources said that the company was competing against bidders including News Corp-owned HarperCollins Publishers for Simon & Schuster and investor Richard Hurowitz.

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As per sources, if the talks conclude successfully the deal could be announced in the coming days.

In February this year, Reuters reported that the Paramount was seeking to sell Simon & Schuster for a second time. Last year the deal to sell the publisher to Penguin Random House for $2.2 billion collapsed because it was blocked by a federal judge. The US Justice Department sued to stop the tie-up of Penguin and Simon & Schuster. A combined group would have accounted for nearly half of the market for publishing rights to blockbuster books.

There's no official comment from either Paramount and KKR. As per Reuters, the companies declined to comment.

Simon & Schuster publishes authors including Stephen King, Jennifer Weiner, and former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. King testified in favor of the US government when it sued to block the tie-up with Penguin.