ICM, Curtis Brown Close to "Unusual Deal"
by Liz Thomson -- Publishers Weekly, 2/28/2008 9:29:00 AM
The U.K. trade magazine Publishing News reports that Curtis Brown and ICM are now close to signing a contract that will cement a co-agenting relationship. Under terms of the agreement, each agency will retain its own clients while bringing foreign rights sales under a shared umbrella held by co-heads of rights Betsy Robbins (whom CB poached from ICM) and Kate Cooper. All of ICM’s London staff with the notable exception of Margaret Halton will move from Soho Square into Curtis Brown’s Haymarket offices on April 1. ICM senior v-p Amanda ‘Binky’ Urban told PN she regretted the loss of Halton, but stressed her belief that “she will land on her feet – everybody loves her”.
Discussions that led to what Urban admits is “not the usual co-agent deal” began last summer, over drinks with Curtis Brown’s Jonny Geller. ICM London, set up originally as a U.K. and foreign rights base for ICM New York, had reached the end of its four-year plan and the question was how to grow the operation in a tricky climate further hindered by a tumbling dollar and soaring real estate prices that exceed those for New York. “I’ve really admired what Jonny has done and things happen in life – we just started to talk,” said Urban. The economies of scale were of course appealing (ICM’s lease on Soho Square is up this year; Curtis Brown has spare office capacity) and it appeared that a combined operation could be greater than the sum of its parts.
Geller, MD of Curtis Brown Books, said: “This is a very exciting development for Curtis Brown. This co-agenting relationship recognizes today’s changing publishing reality in which agencies must react fast and effectively on behalf of their authors and be open to the huge challenges in expanding markets abroad. We hope this alliance with ICM, one of the world's great agencies, will bring great benefits to all authors under our roof in both the U.K. and translation markets over the coming years.”
Final negotiations were put on hold following the sudden death of ICM’s Kate Jones, and many who knew her well believe Jones was far from happy about the plans. Urban paid tribute to Jones’s work: “Kate walked in to my life. We liked each other and she agreed to join ICM. She had built a fabulous client list and those clients are now all committed to Karolina Sutton, who worked at Kate’s side for five years. No one can fill Kate’s shoes but, to the extent that anyone can, it’s Karolina,” who was recently promoted to a full book agent.
