Paramount Global (NasdaqGS:PARA) is again seeking to sell Simon & Schuster, Inc., months after the media company's $2.2 billion deal to sell the book publisher to Penguin Random House collapsed, according to people familiar with the matter. Paramount, formerly known as ViacomCBS, is working with a financial adviser to explore a sale of Simon & Schuster that could value it between $2 billion and $2.5 billion, the sources said, cautioning the process was at an early stage and a deal was not certain. Paramount will court private equity firms as potential buyers of Simon & Schuster because they do not compete with it and would not raise competition concerns with U.S. regulators that led to the demise of the Penguin deal last year, the sources added.

It is unclear whether publishing rivals, such as HarperCollins, controlled by News Corp. (NWSA.O), and European publisher Hachette Publishing, owned by Vivendi-Lagardère, would defy potential regulatory hurdles and make a bid for Simon & Schuster, the sources added. Both these companies had expressed an interest in buying Simon & Schuster before the deal with Penguin, owned by German media group Bertelsmann (BTGGg.F), was torpedoed.

A Paramount spokesperson declined to comment and referred to the company's statement in November, when the deal with Penguin fell apart. In that statement, Paramount reiterated that Simon & Schuster remained "a non-core asset" that "does not fit strategically within Paramount's broader portfolio." HarperCollins declined to comment. Hachette did not respond to requests for comment.