Juta and Company acquires Siber Ink Legal Publications

Founded in 2000 by seasoned legal publisher Simon Sephton, Siber Ink has earned a formidable reputation as a niche publisher of quality law and business titles for the South African market. Key publishing areas include Labour Law, Commercial Law, Tax and Accounting, Procedure, Constitutional and Administrative Law, Trusts, Maritime & Shipping and Health. Siber Ink’s stable of renowned authors and contributors combine a wealth of professional, academic and jurisprudential experience and expertise to produce authoritative yet accessible works to meet the demands of a range of legal information users.

The reputation and following enjoyed by key Siber Ink titles, some now running in multiple editions, is a testament to this resourceful team, and what can be achieved in the relatively short span of just two decades.

Juta CEO Brian Wafawarowa details the factors that culminated in this acquisition. "Having reached the age at which most people retire, Simon was faced with a daunting challenge: Either revitalising and reinvesting in his business to meet the rapidly escalating technological and business demands facing the publishing industry and the world at large, or finding a suitable partner with the resources and capacity to take over and do justice to his authors and customers into the future. A difficult and unenviable choice indeed for an entrepreneur who has proven his worth and beaten the odds to achieve considerable success."

Siber Ink CEO Simon Sephton goes on to explain: "Juta was the obvious fit. The synergies between our businesses were evident and I believed it would make strategic and financial sense to explore the possibility of an arrangement from which both parties would benefit. As the company which had shaped me and my ethos as a publisher, I felt a trust and complementarity with Juta that I would not easily have found elsewhere. I believe we share the same commitment to publishing trusted content tailored to the needs of our business and legal clients."

Brian continues “We are delighted to announce that we have concluded an agreement with Siber Ink in which Juta acquires their full print and ebook publication suite, as well as the Sibergramme electronic newsletters and Journal services. We look forward to the opportunities this sale will unlock for all stakeholders and to engaging with new Siber Ink authors, and to also rekindling longstanding Juta ties with many of the authors we have in common. We are committed to enhancing these fine resources to the delight and benefit of future generations of users. Our thanks and appreciation go to Simon and the Siber Ink team for their efforts and achievements in building this exemplary legal resource repository to this point.”

Says Simon in closing, "And so, after a career of over 40 years in publishing, I am accordingly delighted to be handing over the business that I have run for just a month short of 23 years to the trusted and respected brand of Juta, South Africa's oldest law publishing house."