Random House is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has an entertainment production arm for film and television, Random House Studio, of which the most recent release was One Day. The company also creates story content for media including video games, social networks on the web, and mobile platforms. Random House is considered one of the "Big Six" publishing companies, along with Hachette, Macmillan, Penguin, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster. In October 2012, Bertelsmann entered into talks with rival conglomerate Pearson plc, over the possibility of combining their respective publishing companies, Random House and Penguin. On 1 July 2013, the merger was complete, with the combined company known as Penguin Random House. Bertelsmann own 53% of the joint venture.
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