Blue Sky Publications has acquired the popular expat title, SAPeople. Adding to the four titles the multinational publisher already produces – including the second largest online news website in South Africa, The South African – the move forms part of Blue Sky’s plans to reach a wider audience across Africa through different acquisition and collaboration opportunities.
SAPeople was founded in 2009 by two expats, Jenni Baxter and Amanda Stergianos, who are also the brains behind SA’s largest reuniting website, SAReunited. This news site is built around a sense of community and seeks to connect and celebrate South Africans worldwide via familiar humour, stories and breathtaking photos of the place its readers still call home. SAPeople has become the go-to site for South Africans abroad looking to access local news, advice or who simply want to connect with their roots.
“I’m delighted that Blue Sky has acquired SAPeople. It’s a perfect fit,” says SAPeople co-founder, Jenni Baxter. “Blue Sky already knows how to deliver the stories that South Africans love and with their infrastructure and super-skilled team, I feel confident SAPeople is in fantastic hands to grow significantly and reach an even wider audience. With Blue Sky at the helm, SAPeople can continue to inspire, inform and entertain South Africans around the globe.”
Having followed their progress closely as a competitor over the years, we jumped at the opportunity to add SAPeople to our portfolio, says Bianca de Jongh, operations and finance director at Blue Sky. “We have the utmost respect for Jenni and the team and what they’ve accomplished and feel honoured to have the opportunity to build this brand further.’’
SAPeople has a large and extremely engaged following of more than 800,000 monthly readers, which we hope to increase to over two million in the next 12 months, adds De Jongh. Given the fact that South Africa’s emigration numbers are rising – three times as many people emigrated from South Africa between 2015 and 2020 – over 128,000 people – than between 2010 and 2015 (43,000 people), the demand for this content is certainly on the increase.
“The expat market is growing and, with this reality in mind, we believe that SAPeople can continue to be a place where people can connect with home, in addition to being the perfect platform for local and international businesses to market their products and services worldwide.”
To find out more about Blue Sky or to get in touch about similar collaboration and acquisition opportunities, please contact moc.snoitacilbuPykSeulB@acnaiB.
