BUSINESS - Corel Corporation Hires Former Microsoft Executive to Run Its Asia Pacific and Japan Operations

Kazuo Sakai Joins Corel as Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific and Japan Operations and President, Corel Japan

OTTAWA, Canada -- (BUSINESS WIRE) - Tuesday September 23, 2008

Corel Corporation, a leading developer of graphics, productivity and digital media software, announced that Kazuo Sakai will join Corel as Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific and Japan Operations and President, Corel Japan effective immediately.

Kazuo Sakai joins Corel with deep industry experience leading sales and marketing operations in Japan and the Asia Pacific region. He also has well established relationships with Japan’s leading OEMs. Prior to joining Corel, Mr. Sakai held senior executive positions at Microsoft, where most recently he served as Program Vice President, Digital Entertainment Partner Group. He also had a long career with AMD, where he served as Chairman of AMD Japan; Corporate Vice President, Sales and Marketing, South Asia Pacific; and Vice President, Sales and Marketing, North Asia Pacific.

In his new role at Corel, Mr. Sakai will immediately assume responsibility for Japan sales and marketing and will later expand his role to include oversight of Corel’s sales and marketing activities in Australia, New Zealand, South East Asia, China, Korea (ANSEACK) and Taiwan.

“I am very pleased to join Corel to help continue the company’s momentum in one of its highest-growth regions,” said Kazuo Sakai. “Corel software brands such as WinDVD, VideoStudio, DVD MovieWriter and Corel Painter are very popular with customers and partners in these markets and I see great potential to further grow Corel’s business as we enhance our existing OEM relationships, build new OEM relationships, expand our eCommerce platform, and strengthen our ties with key reseller partners.”

“We are delighted to have someone of Sakai-san’s experience and capability join Corel’s executive team, and lead our sales and marketing efforts in Asia Pacific and Japan,” said Kris Hagerman, Interim CEO, Corel Corporation. “Sakai-san is a seasoned executive with a strong track record of success, and we are confident his leadership will allow Corel to take full advantage of the exciting growth opportunities available in this region.”

About Corel

Corel is one of the world’s top software companies with more than 100 million active users in over 75 countries. We develop software that helps people express their ideas and share their stories in more exciting, creative and persuasive ways. Through the years we’ve built a reputation for delivering innovative, trusted products that are easy to learn and use, helping people achieve new levels of productivity. The industry has responded with hundreds of awards for software innovation, design and value.

Our award-winning product portfolio includes some of the world's most widely recognized and popular software brands including CorelDRAW Graphics Suite, Corel Painter, Corel DESIGNER Technical Suite, Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo, VideoStudio, WinDVD, Corel WordPerfect Office and WinZip. Our global headquarters are in Ottawa, Canada, with major offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, China, Taiwan and Japan.

(Business Wire)

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