In a move which marks the latest development in the long-running ebook price-fixing lawsuit, which was filed by the Department of Justice (DoJ) against Apple and five US publishers in April last year, Macmillan has apparently reached a settlement with the DoJ.

The settlement between the DoJ and Macmillan's German operator Holtzbrinck Publishers makes Macmillan the last of the five US publishers - the other four being Hachette, HarperCollins, Penguin, and Simon & Schuster - to settle the ebook price-fixing lawsuit; thereby leaving Apple to fight the lawsuit alone.

The allegations which DoJ had leveled against Apple and the five US publishers while filing the lawsuit was that they had illegally conspired to increase the e-book prices, so that Amazon and other retailers could not lower the prices of ebooks.

While Hachette, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster had immediately reached a settlement with the DoJ, Apple, Penguin, and Macmillan had vowed to fight the allegations in court. However, Penguin also settled with the DoJ in December; and, now, Macmillan too has reached a settlement, claiming the cost of losing the lawsuit could have put it out of business.

With Macmillan stating that the settlement was reached with DoJ because "the potential penalties became too high to risk even the possibility of an unfavorable outcome," DoJ lawyer Jamillia Ferris said that the settlement move by Macmillan will "immediately allow retailers to lower the prices consumers pay for Macmillan's e-books."