The Italian publishing house MONDADORI (1.483 bn euro turnover in 2000) has signed a letter of intent to merge its businesses in Spain and Latin America with those of RANDOM HOUSE, controlled by the German BERTELSMANN. The agreement provides for the setting up of a joint subsidiary poling the businesses concerned in the two companies, representing an overall annual turnover of some $100 million. From this alliance, the world's second largest Spanish language publishers will emerge.