United Talent Agency ‘would not rule out’ further buyouts after LBF bow

United Talent Agency (UTA) has said it is aiming to continue to scale up either organically or with further acquisitions, as it concludes its first London Book Fair following the purchases of Curtis Brown and Fletcher & Company (F&C).

Christy Fletcher, the F&C founder who became co-head of UTA Publishing with Byrd Leavell after she sold her agency in January, told The Bookseller that the strategy going forward was certainly growth and “would not rule out any further acquisitions”. But she added that the emphasis “is also being the best home for writers”.

A prominent aspect of this going forward will be harnessing some of LA-headquartered UTA’s resources, such as UTA IQ, the agency’s data, research and digital strategy division: “I think it’s going to be really differentiating. It’s a very thoughtful way UTA currently uses [analytics] for clients, and how we will use it to help inform strategy for our own publishing clients is going to be amazing.”

Meanwhile, Curtis Brown c.e.o. Jonny Geller, while not commenting on UTA’s overall strategy, said of the market in general: “I don’t think it takes a genius to think that more [big US agencies may acquire British ones]. Things have changed, it’s a tough market. But the ecosystem of agenting is very particular: you have to find the right fit. It isn’t just one plus one equals two, it’s a cultural thing. An agency has to be ready to enter into a collaboration and a partnership, and not all agencies are like that.”

Both Fletcher and Geller pointed to a number of initiatives across the entire group that have already borne fruit, such as the integration of the Curtis Brown, UTA and F&C foreign rights teams (débuting as a unit at this fair); and deals which cross UTA’s talent rosters, like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Be Useful—announced at LBF yesterday (19th April)—in which Geller sold rights to Ebury, and Leavell to Penguin Press US.

Geller added: “Those are tangible examples of collaboration but there is a lot more going on behind the scenes—filmmakers seeing [book] manuscripts, [Curtis Brown] being able to call [UTA’s] podcasting business and ask, ‘What do you think about this, is this deal right?’”

Agency consolidation arguably pales in comparison to recent publisher consolidation. Fletcher was an adverse witness for the Department of Justice in last year’s case in which Penguin Random House’s acquisition of Simon & Schuster was blocked; she testified that a PRH/S&S deal would be harmful to author earnings.

She is not keen on any other conglomerate publisher stepping in to buy S&S in PRH’s stead. Fletcher said: “HarperCollins or Hachette might handle [an S&S acquisition] differently than PRH would have, but it wouldn’t be better than the current situation. It’s unfortunate because S&S is such a powerful player right now. Ideally, I would rather the buyer be someone coming in from outside publishing, one which keeps S&S as a vibrant, independent player.”

She further argued that the growth of publishing over the past 20 years is not down to corporate conglomeratisation: “The truth is that growth is related to wider economic issues—such as people having more disposable income—and the market has thrived despite the level of competition. What is good for authors in the long term is having a robust, competitive marketplace.”

Somewhat ironic, then, that Fletcher herself decided to join a larger concern, but she points out key differences in F&C’s own consolidation with UTA: “I was looking at the realities of the landscape for authors and agents. UTA is obviously in growth mode and in my work with UTA over the years, I saw its culture was truly collaborative. In the end, you think of what’s best for your clients and staff. I don’t know if I would have [sold up to] anyone else, as UTA are so incredibly generous as colleagues and really creative, thoughtful and far less corporate than some of their cousins.”