Les Editions Lefebvre-Sarrut (ELS) is the largest legal publisher in France. The company was created in 1999 by a merger between Editions Francis Lefebvre and Editions Législatives with a focus on publishing, professional education and database integration. Les Editions Francis Lefebvre was founded in 1930 and Les Editions Législatives was founded in 1947. Les Editions Législatives publishes loose-leaf-collections and is a leader in social and business law. Both companies continue to act as separate editorial and commercial entities along with Dalloz, the leading French academic law publisher and publisher of the Little Red Book series, which it purchased from Hachette in 2006.
ELS specializes in tax, law, accountability and social publishing targeted at business corporations and the professional requirements of international branches. The group has offices in France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany and the UK.
Analysis & Key Developments
Financial
ELS is a privately held company that does not release any financial information aside from the annual revenue and overall profit referenced in the chart.
Internal Organization
The international brands owned or co-owned by ELS include Juris in Germany (45%), Indicator in Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, Sdu Uitgevers in the Netherlands, FLMemo in the UK and IFL in Italy (50%).
ELS is also successful in professional training in France, Spain and the Netherlands based on the brand recognition of its publishing division.
Key Developments
In 2013, ELS group acquired SDU, a Dutch publisher with leading positions in legal, tax and regulatory and business information. Through SDU, ELS has a 45% stake in Juris, the German online publisher.
In 2011, the company acquired 100% of Publishco Holding NV, a Belgian publishing company. The Group Publishco holding NV publishes books and newsletters under the Indicator brand in five European countries.
Return to the full listing of the world's largest publishers.
