An entry in Anna Nicole Smith's diary is shown in Dallas in this April 5, 2007, file photo.£ÛAP]

An unnamed recording company executive from Dallas has bought two diaries written by Anna Nicole Smith in the early 1990s for 59,750 dollars (almost ¡ê30,000) at auction.

The move came after they failed to sell at a recent auction, said Doug Norwine, director of music and entertainment memorabilia of Heritage Auction Galleries of Dallas.

They were put up for sale a minimum bid of 25,000 dollars (¡ê12,500) each, and two people expressed interest in buying them, he said.

"We had two collectors who wanted to buy them, and the Dallas man took time from his busy recording schedule to be the first to send the money," Norwine said.

The auction house obtained the journals and other items from an anonymous German businessman who purchased them on eBay for more than 500,000 dollars (¡ê250,000) several weeks ago.

He decided to auction the diaries after securing the publishing rights, Norwine said.

Smith's lawyer-turned-partner, Howard K Stern, has alleged that the diaries had been stolen and should be returned to her estate.

But Norwine said he vetted the history of the journals and believed they were legitimately obtained by a celebrity memorabilia dealer in Los Angeles before going up for sale on eBay.

The diaries from 1992 and 1994 cover a range of topics, from Smith's love of octogenarian oil tycoon J Howard Marshall II to concerns about her eating.