SAGE announces acquisition of major theology journals list

["Chapuis, Karine" <karine.chapuis@sagepub.co.uk>]

For immediate release

Contact: 
David Ross
Head of Business Development
SAGE Publications
+44 (0) 207 324 8500
david.ross@sagepub.co.uk www.sagepublications.com

SAGE announces acquisition of major theology journals list

Thousand Oaks, California, and London, United Kingdom, 15 October 2004 -
SAGE Publications is delighted to announce the acquisition of The
Continuum International Publishing Group's Theology and Biblical Studies
journals list.

This is an exciting and important development for SAGE, building on its
existing strengths as a global journal publisher and firmly positioning
SAGE as a leading journal publisher in theology and biblical studies. The
list consists of 18 prestigious academic journals that provide the very
latest thinking, research and resources for scholars, students and clergy.  
As a major journal publisher SAGE intends to utilize its extensive
experience of the market to develop all the titles to their full
potential.

The sale of the journals is in line with Continuum's previously announced
strategy of building world-leading positions in its chosen book publishing
subjects:  theology and biblical studies, teacher education, philosophy,
literature, film & music, and politics.  The journals list represented a
relatively small proportion of Continuum's overall turnover, which is
concentrated in books, and the funds received will be used to finance
further acquisitions in Continuum's core book publishing areas.

"We are delighted that SAGE will take over these highly respected
journals, and are confident that resources from SAGE will continue to
expand the market for them," said Philip Sturrock, Chairman of Continuum.

"We at SAGE are proud to be the new publisher of such highly thought of
journals," said Stephen Barr, Managing Director, SAGE Publications. "SAGE
has been expanding its journal publishing beyond our origins as a social
science publisher over the last decade and with this acquisition of a
group of key titles in religion and theology, SAGE will immediately have a
significant presence in a major humanities discipline.  It is also an
opportunity for us to enhance the dissemination of these journals
including their transition to electronic delivery and to ensure that they
serve the readers they address, and the authors that they publish, to full
effect."
 
Bertoli Mitchell acted for Continuum in this transaction.

The full list of titles is:
 
o Aramaic Studies
o Communio: International Catholic Review (distributed on behalf of
  Communio)
o Currents in Biblical Research
o Ecclesiology (new for 2004)
o Feminist Theology (Published in association with the Britain and Ireland
  School of Feminist Theology)
o Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus
o Journal for the Study of the New Testament
o Journal for the Study of the Old Testament
o Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha 
o Journal of Anglican Studies (Published on behalf of the Journal of 
  Anglican Studies Trust) 
o Journal of Moral Philosophy: an international journal of moral, 
  political and legal philosophy
o Journal of Pentecostal Theory 
o RELC Journal: A journal of language teaching and research in Southeast 
  Asia (Published on behalf of the Regional Language Centre of Southeast 
  Asian Ministers of Education Organization) 
o Studies in Christian Ethics 
o The Chesterton Review (distributed on behalf of the G. K. Chesterton 
  Institute) 
o The Expository Times 
o The Innes Review (Published on behalf of the Scottish Catholic 
  Historical Association) 
o Theology and Sexuality (Published in association with the Centre for the 
  Study of Christianity and Sexuality)

All the journals will be made available on-line though the new SAGE
On-line platform in the near future (http://online.sagepub.com).
Subscriptions are available direct from SAGE Publications or through
subscription agents.
 
For all queries please contact David Ross at SAGE Publications at
david.ross@sagepub.co.uk.

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