In keeping with his philosophy of having executives wear different hats, Random House chairman Markus Dohle has named Random House Australia managing director Margie Seale to explore business opportunities in Southeast and Northern Asia on behalf of Random House worldwide.
Seale will take on those new responsibilities in addition to her existing New Zealand reports, Dohle said in a memo. Her appointment marks a new effort by RH to publish in the region. In September, RH discontinued its Japanese joint venture, Random House Kodansha, which began in 2003, and in February divested its four-year ownership of Random House Korea, ending a publishing relationship that began two years earlier as a joint venture. Both deals were done when Peter Olson was Random chair.
Despite ending those relationships, Dohle said, "we continue to believe in the great publishing and business-development potential in the Asian market for Random House, and Margie is perfectly placed to identify and to advise us about opportunities there for us."
