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News | Penguin Random House | Munich, 05/21/2015

Verlagsgruppe Random House (Germany) to Launch New Penguin Verlag Imprint

Verlagsgruppe Random House announces the launch of Penguin Verlag as a new German-language imprint. The inaugural list will be published in 2016, headed by Thomas Rathnow, publisher and member of the management board of Random House Germany. Publishing both fiction and non-fiction, Penguin Verlag will present original paperback editions, as well as paperback reprints of books that have previously been published in hardcover by the imprints Adeo, C. Bertelsmann, carl's books, DVA, GVH, Knaus, Kösel, Manesse, Pantheon and Siedler.

“Verlagsgruppe Random House is an author-centered and author-driven company, but we also believe in powerful publishing brands. Therefore, I am thrilled for us to launch Penguin Verlag next year, a brand name that represents worldwide the convergence of high quality and popular commercial success like no other. Penguin Verlag will focus on publishing trade and mass-market paperbacks; the list will include many well-established authors,” says Thomas Rathnow. A paperback edition of Jonas Jonasson’s bestseller “Die Analphabetin, die rechnen konnte” [The Girl Who Saved The King of Sweden] is planned as one of the first titles of the initial list.

Though not formally part of Penguin Random House, owned by Bertelsmann and Pearson, “Verlagsgruppe Random House will work closely with Penguin in the UK and US to prepare for the launch of Penguin Verlag,” says Markus Dohle, CEO of Penguin Random House and member of the Bertelsmann Board. “I am thrilled that our merger of Penguin Random House enables us to bring the renowned Penguin brand to Germany. Our colleagues in Munich will create an outstanding publishing program with the Penguin editorial standards.”

Penguin was founded eighty years ago in London. In keeping with the tradition established by Penguin’s founder and first publisher, Allen Lane, Penguin Verlag will publish handsomely designed books with a high recognition factor that entertain and inspire, amaze and arouse curiosity, and shed new light on the world. “We wish to create a new type of publishing house, which is able to react quickly and flexibly to the needs of authors, booksellers and readers alike, with regard to publishing dates, formats, pricing and the interplay with our hardcover imprints. This applies both to print and digital books,” Thomas Rathnow adds.

Tom Welden, CEO of Penguin Random House UK, in London, comments, “I am delighted that the Penguin brand will be amplified by the publication of Penguin books in German and I wish it and my colleagues at Verlagsgruppe in Munich great success.”

Verlagsgruppe Random House, based in Germany, is a division of Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA. Among Verlagsgruppe Random House’s 45 imprints in Germany are Blanvalet, C. Bertelsmann, DVA, Goldmann, Heyne, Luchterhand, and Siedler. Further information at www.randomhouse.de.