News Corp. has acquired Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Co.'s consumer division, which publishes The Lord of the Rings and other major franchises from prominent authors, in a deal worth $349 million.

　　Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Co. will join News Corp's existing book-publisher, HarperCollins. With the buyout, News Corp. is taking hold of noteworthy novels from not only J.R.R. Tolkien but also George Orwell, Virginia Woolf, and Philip Roth.

　　This deal will help Houghton pay down its debts and accelerate its push toward becoming more of a digital-first company, according to The Wall Street Journal, which is also owned by News Corp.

　　"Timeless writing is a timely source of revenue and the potential to create highly profitable audio and video works flourishes with each passing digital day," News Corp. CEO Robert Thomson said in a statement.

　　"The HarperCollins collection will be bolstered for children and young adults, and authors around the world will have a larger platform for their creativity and ingenuity. It is crucial to expand in an era in which emerging monopolies threaten the creative marketplace, so we welcome J.R.R. Tolkien, Virginia Woolf, George Orwell and many, many other distinguished writers to HarperCollins."

　　A spokesperson for HarperCollins declined to tell the AP if there would be any layoffs related to this acquisition. "No decisions have been made," the publisher said.

　　Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Co. is the publisher of the upcoming new edition of The Lord of the Rings featuring illustrations by J.R.R. Tolkien. The book releases in October, but you can preorder it right now for 40% off.