Chorion buys rights to Van der Valk

Chorion, the intellectual property rights company that owns the rights to Agatha Christie's novels, yesterday added to its stable of famous literary detectives after buying all rights to the fictional works of Nicolas Freeling for an undisclosed sum.

Mr Freeling is best known as the author of the Van der Valk series of detective novels which was turned into a hit television series in the 1970s, starring the late Barry Foster as the Dutch police inspector Piet Van der Valk.

"Nicolas Freeling is a well known and admired detective writer and we are delighted to have secured ownership of his works," Chorion's chairman, Nick Tamblyn, said. "Van der Valk, in particular, will be an excellent fit with our existing crime brands and we believe there will be significant opportunities to reinvigorate the property for a new audience."

The author has written 36 crime novels, including the 13 Van der Valk books. His other main crime series features Henri Castang, a Brussels-based French police officer who investigates crimes at the European Commission.

Chorion said it was the first time it had bought the works of a living author. As well as Agatha Christie, Chorion owns the rights to the works of Georges Simenon, who created Maigret, and other classical crime writers. The company also owns the rights to the works of Enid Blyton.

Shares in Chorion, which demerged its nightclubs business Urbium this month, rose 0.25p to 8.75p, to value the business at £45m.

Mr Freeling, who was born in London in 1927 and educated in England, France and Ireland, said: "Chorion has fast become the leader in the crime brands market and I am pleased to entrust my works in the knowledge that they will grow the brands globally whilst retaining the genre of the stories."