Acorn Purchases Controlling Interest in Agatha Christies' Estate

With the purchase of 64 percent of Agatha Christie Limited, Acorn has become the first American company to acquire the controlling interest in Agatha Christie's estate, the media group announced in a press release on February 29. The acquisition of Christie's estate marks the most important deal in the history of the company, which is the leading independent media company and principal distributor of British TV on home video in the U.S.

Christie's family retains its 36 percent holding. Her grandson, Mathew Prichard, remains Chairman of Agatha Christie Limited.

Of the acquisition, Miguel Penella, the CEO of Acorn Media, said "We see this acquisition as a key step in the company's continued evolution into content ownership and television production." He added that Acorn Media looks "forward to working with Mathew and James Prichard and the Agatha Christie family for years to come."

Prichard said "My family and I are delighted to be forming a new partnership with Acorn Media." He added he thinks the partnership "will continue the successful history of the company, and produce much more Agatha Christie material for fans everywhere, particularly in the U.S."

Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time. Her estate includes more than 80 novels, 19 plays, and nearly 40 TV films. With more than two billion books sold, the sales of Christie's works only follow The Bible and William Shakespeare's collection. Her iconic characters include Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.