Andrew Neil pays £4m for top literary agency split by feud

Andrew Neil, the broadcaster and former editor of The Sunday Times, today bought one of Britain's leading literary and talent agencies for £4 million.

He led a team of City investors in the purchase of PFD, a company which has been ravaged over the past 12 months by the departure of almost its entire staff to form a rival agency.

The near-destruction of PFD has been one of the most bitter battles ever fought in the normally sedate literary world.

Twenty agents quit the company last year, the majority going on to set up rival United Agents and taking most of their authors with them - including such literary giants as Robert Harris, Ruth Rendell and Nick Hornby.

Agents to stars of theatre, cinema and television such as Keira Knightley and Ricky Gervaise also walked out to join United Agents, again taking their clients with them.

The split was said to be led by Pat Kavanagh, 71, the wife of author Julian Barnes. A year ago, she led a group of agents which tried to buy PFD out for £4 million but they were thwarted by the agency's parent company the Stellar Group, which manages sports stars.

Now Mr Neil has persuaded Stellar to sell the company it bought for £12 million in 2001 for a reduced price of £4 million - but without many of its star names.

He was today bullish about the company's prospects, promising an agency which would begin recruiting new agents and authors.

PFD's current chief executive Caroline Michelwas brought in by Stellar on £500,000 a year to rescue the agency and will remain in place to turn its fortunes around.

Mr Neil admitted PFD had been through "tough times" but insisted that its backlist - the proceeds from historic publishing deals - gave it a reliable source of income for years to come.

He would not reveal who the City investors were, nor how much money he had put in himself. Mr Neil said today: "The combination of PFD's strong backlist and impressive new pipeline, the talent and dynamism of Caroline and her team together with the company's exciting new concept for building the business across all media, means that PFD, a well-loved and respected agency, can look forward to a future of security, growth and prosperity."

Ms Michel said: "This is the turning over of a page and the beginning of a new chapter." She was formerly at HarperCollins and is a close friend of Mr Neil. He will also work with creative director Sue Douglas, ex-Sunday Express editor.

United Agents refused to comment on today's developments although sources are wondering quite why PFD is worth £4 million when much of its talent has left the agency.

Former PFD client, novelist Robert Harris, said last year: "Everybody I know intends to go with their agents, so I do not see where PFD's cash flow is going to come from."