Safari Books Online, developer of an on-demand digital library for professional content, has acquired web developer and e-reading consultancy firm Threepress Consulting, makers of the Ibis Reader, an HTML5 ebook platform and EPUB reading system for iOS, Android and the Web. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Safari Books Online says the purchase, which was completed on January 1, enhances its capability to deliver customized subscription book, video and learning content online and on mobile devices, thanks to Threepress’ in-house expertise when it comes to EPUB tools, HTML5, CSS, JavaScript and other digital publishing technologies.
Threepress licenses its cloud-based HTML5 reading system Ibis Reader to third parties, but it’s unclear what will happen to the white-label business under Safari Books Online’s wings following the acquisition.
As part of the deal, Threepress co-founders Liza Daly and Keith Fahlgren will henceforth be leading the Safari Books Online engineering team, which the rest of the Threepress staff is also joining.
Safari Books Online, which is a joint venture between Pearson Education and O’Reilly Media (where Fahlgren was previously employed), says its library now contains over 20,000 digital books and videos for technology, creative, business and management professionals.
In July 2001, O’Reilly Media, Inc. and The Pearson Technology Group, joined forces to create Safari Books Online. The premise was simple: compile the best technology books from the leading authors and publishers into an online database that IT, programming, and design professionals could quickly and easily search for reliable, definitive answers to mission-critical questions.
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