New York based publisher Penguin Random House has won the industry's most coveted contract: a two-for-one deal to produce the memoirs of former president Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama.

"The company has acquired world publication rights for two books, to be written by President and Mrs Obama respectively," the publisher said in a statement.

Bidding for the high-profile double book deal topped $60 million, a record sum for US presidential memoirs, according to the Financial Times. (AFP)