Penguin and Random House confident merger will be approved

Two of the world's biggest publishers have agreed a tie-up which will see their book businesses combined.

Pearson and Bertelsmann, which are merging their publishers Penguin and Random House, are confident of getting the deal cleared by regulators.

Pearson chief financial officer Robin Freestone told BBC News it was a complicated issue but their advice was that the merger would be approved.

The companies said their brands, or imprints, would retain their editorial independence.

The new Penguin Random House is set to have between 25% and 30% of the global publishing market.

Will Gompertz reports.