Penguin boss Markus Dohle leaves the group after the US takeover collapsed

Markus Dohle

The manager resigns from his board position at Bertelsmann.

(Photo: Bertelsmann)

Dusseldorf After the Bertelsmann subsidiary Penguin Random House failed with the takeover of the New York publisher Simon & Schuster, there are now personnel consequences in management: Markus Dohle resigns as head of the world’s largest book publisher at the end of the year and also leaves the Bertelsmann Executive Board. This was announced by the Gütersloh family company on Friday afternoon.

“Following the antitrust decision in the USA, I decided to hand over the next chapter of Penguin Random House to new management,” said Dohle. The manager should not have been pushed to resign, according to internal sources, but resigned the office at his own request.

The resignation for Europe’s second largest media group must have come as a surprise: Bertelsmann has not yet found a successor, but is initially installing an interim boss. As of January, Nihar Malaviya will take over on an interim basis. Born in India, he currently manages Penguin Random House’s operations in the United States.

Markus Dohle was considered a candidate for the top post at Bertelsmann

Two years ago, Bertelsmann announced the takeover of the US book publisher Simon & Schuster, number four in the industry. It would have been a deal worth $2.2 billion. However, the US Department of Justice had filed a lawsuit against the merger because it was concerned about competition in the book market.

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At the beginning of November, a judge agreed with the objection. Bertelsmann initially announced that it wanted to appeal, but then gave up the plans completely.

>> Read more: Bertelsmann fails with a billion-dollar merger – next defeat for CEO Rabe

Top manager Dohle must have understood the broken deal as a personal defeat. His departure is a great loss for Bertelsmann. The 54-year-old was seen internally as a possible candidate to succeed CEO Thomas Rabe, whose contract expires in 2026.

Dohle had been responsible for Bertelsmann’s book business since 2008 and was also a member of the Executive Board. Under his leadership, the division’s sales have recently doubled to four billion euros and the number of employees to 12,000, while EBITDA has even quintupled to 755 million euros. For Bertelsmann, founded in 1835 as a book publisher, the business has gained in importance under Dohle: today it accounts for 22 percent of sales, in 2008 it was ten percent.

In 2013 Dohle merged the Bertelsmann-Verlag Random House with the Penguin Group of the British media company Pearson and became the first head of the new publishing group.

“Markus Dohle gradually expanded Penguin Random House together with his international management team and strengthened the global presence of the book publishing group,” said Bertelsmann boss Rabe on Friday. The head of the supervisory board, Christoph Mohn, was quoted as saying in the announcement: “We regret Markus Dohle’s decision. The fact that the global book publishing group is where it is today is largely due to him.”

Thomas Rabe

The visions of the Bertelsmann boss fail because of the authorities.

(Photo: Bertelsmann)

Dohle worked for Bertelsmann for a total of almost 30 years. He started as a project manager in 1994 after studying industrial engineering. At the turn of the millennium, he developed the United Publishing House into the market leader in German book distribution. Between 2002 and 2006 he was CEO of the Mohn Media printing group. He then became a board member of the service provider Arvato.

The manager will continue to be available to the company in an advisory capacity. He lives in New York, is married and has two adult children.

Interim successor Nihar Malaviya has worked for Bertelsmann since 2001

Nihar Malaviya, who has been with the company since 2001, is now following in his footsteps. Since 2014 he has been responsible for all operational publishing processes in the USA – from the supply chain to technical issues and customer concerns. Malaviya will also be appointed to Bertelsmann’s Group Management Committee, which advises the Executive Board on corporate strategy issues.

Bertelsmann boss Rabe describes Dohle’s successor as an “entrepreneurial publishing professional”. With his in-depth understanding of the global media landscape and the publishing industry, he will continue to develop the company.

Nihar Malaviya

Born in India, he is currently COO of Penguin Random House’s operations in the USA.

(Photo: Bertelsmann)

The group had recently failed not only in the book industry with its takeover plans. In France, the Bertelsmann holding M6 wanted to merge with a competitor, but the antitrust authorities had concerns about competition, whereupon the Gütersloh-based company withdrew its plans. And in the call center industry, the subsidiary Majorel did not come together with its competitor Sitel, which is twice as large, as planned.

The fourth defeat is imminent in the Netherlands. RTL Nederland wants to take over the Talpa Network company there. Bertelsmann expects a decision later this year.

More: How the merger plans of media group boss Thomas Rabe fail

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