To protect Pearson's interests as a minority shareholder, if Bertelsmann declines aPearson offer to sell its entire shareholding, Pearson may require a recapitalisation by which Penguin Random House raises debt of up to 3.5x EBITDA, with a dividend distributed to shareholders in line with their ownership.
In Britain, the pension funds of Shropshire county council, Sainsbury's, a supermarket chain, and Pearson, part-owner of The Economist, are thinking about joining the trend.