Lord Dennis Stevenson, the chairman of British media conglomerate Pearson is stepping down, leading to hightened speculation that it will sell off one of its primary assets: Penguin Books. As a Times report by Mark Kleinman details,” during his eight years as chairman Pearson has changed radically,” selling off diverse assets such as Madame Tussaud’s and Lazard, the investment bank. Now, “Analysts have speculated that when the management team of Stevenson and Marjorie Scardino, his chief executive, split up, Pearson might consider selling off Penguin. The book publisher is expected to be the subject of a writedown tomorrow after suffering higher-than-anticipated book returns in the US and a supply chain problem in its British business.” Meanwhile, the Times story offers no explanation as to why Stevenson is taking his leave.