Quark's

$1.62 billion is less than Paramount Global was seeking for Simon & Schuster, but a $200 million cancellation payout on the last court-blocked deal, and several years of profitability from the publishing arm, makes for a bit of a wash over 4 years of attempted divestment.

As a Treklit fan, I’m sad to see the franchise publisher going separate ways, but Paramount never seemed inclined to make anything of the possible synergies with its publisher. And Paramount will always own all the rights for its licenced tie-in fiction whatever the relationship.

Hopefully, this influx of cash will help Paramount reduce its overall debt without making it a target for a takeover funded with its own money.