The Bookseller.com

2nd December 2008

Michel attempts to draw line at PFD

19.06.08 Joel Rickett

Caroline Michel is hoping to draw a line under the Peters, Fraser & Dunlop saga after convincing media mogul Andrew Neil to take over the agency. But Neill has vowed that the deal would not lead to a rapprochment with the United Agents.

Neil and two as-yet-unnamed City financiers this week agreed to buy PFD from parent group CSS Stellar, subject to shareholder approval on 7th July. They are paying £3.75m cash, with another £250,000 due in 2011 dependent on performance. Michel will remain as c.e.o. and take an unspecified stake in the business.

Neil said: "Caroline and the team have a vision of providing a 360 degree service across every media outlet. They also have a strong back book to generate revenues--that will act as a cushion while we build the pipeline of new talent."

PFD's operating profit for 2007 was £0.4m on turnover of £9.4m--a figure which is likely to halve for 2008 after the exodus of all the lead PFD agents. But Neil said £3.75m was a fair price: "We managed to get it at a good price because of its well-known problems. We can draw a line."

Neil will become chairman of PFD, but said he would leave Michel to run the business. "PFD have been buffeted and we can provide security and stability. We're not in for a quick flip. Management will become owners and share the rewards." Neill said the deal would not lead to a rapprochment with the United Agents. "They still owe us money. All the best tunes have been sung by the United Agents so far, but we're going to be more robust and aggressive."

The price is close to that offered by the former agents in spring 2007. Michel said: "The company has halved in value since then because they've taken the frontlist. So it shows what they were offering was unacceptable. They held a gun to [CSS Stellar's] head." She insisted that PFD would keep collecting backlist income from the authors who followed their agents out of the door left:"Everybody in this business is aware of what the terms of contracts are."

Michel plans to rapidly grow the 36-person PFD team to encompass "public speaking, presenters, exhibitions. It's about the management side of people's careers--seeing where they want to be in three to five years and taking them there."

There is no update on the ongoing legal disputes and pending employment tribunals of former PFD agents. In April PFD was ordered to pay £125,000 to Duncan Hayes.

David Buchler, chairman of CSS Stellar, said: "PFD has been through a traumatic period of change and this sale will provide a platform for the business to return to a market leading position."

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