Christian Knowles Productions bought by Jonathan Shalit's giant

Micky Flanagan’s agent Christian Knowles has sold his company to showbiz management giant ROAR Group.

The deal, for an undisclosed sum, makes his firm CKP part of the £30million-a-year business run by celebrity talent guru Jonathan Shalit.

ROAR’s existing client roster includes Katherine Jenkins, Lorraine Kelly, Joan Collins, Pixie Lott,  and Emma Bunton. It is also a ‘chosen management partner’ for acts coming through Simon Cowell’s X-Factor and Britain’s Got Talent shows.

Meanwhile, CKP’s other comedian clients include  Hal Cruttenden, Mark Watson, Andrew Maxwell and Zoe Lyons.

Shalit, who was made an OBE in 2014, said he had been having ‘on and off’ conversations about buying CKP for four years. ‘Christian is in my opinion the best comedy agent in the UK with an awesome roster of clients,’ he said. 

‘We look forward to building further on that roster and helping all clients to build on their, and our, successful brands.

Knowles said: ‘I’m absolutely delighted to be joining the ROAR Group.  We resisted previous offers from elsewhere to buy CKP, but ROAR’s ambition and vision matched our own perfectly."

Knowles founded his company 16 years ago, and produced Flanagan’s An’ Another Fing tour, which made the comic the biggest selling touring artist of 2016.

ROAR established a comedy division, under directors Stuart Piper and Corrie McGuire, in 2015. Its clients include Alexis Dubus, Jan Ravens and Pete Firman.

Published: 22 Jan 2017