The Penguin Group is a trade book publisher, part of Penguin Random House. It is owned by Pearson PLC, the global education and publishing company, and Bertelsmann, the German media conglomerate. The new company was created by a merger that was finalized on July 1, 2013, with Bertelsmann owning 53% of the joint venture, and Pearson controlling the remaining 47%.

Penguin Books has its registered office in City of Westminster, London.

Its British division is Penguin Books Ltd. Other separate divisions can be found in the United States, Ireland, New Zealand, India, Australia, Canada, China, and South Africa.

History

Penguin Books Ltd. (est. 1935) of the United Kingdom was bought over by Pearson Longman in 1970.

Penguin Group (USA) Inc. was formed in 1996 as a result of the merger between Penguin Books USA and the Putnam Berkley Group. The newly formed company was originally called Penguin Putnam Inc., but, in 2003, it changed its name to Penguin Group (USA) Inc. to reflect the parent Pearson PLC's grouping of all the Penguin companies worldwide under the supervisory umbrella of Pearson's own Penguin Group division.