Irish telecom Eir purchased int'l sports broadcaster Setanta Sports
Ireland, which is based in Ireland, "for an undisclosed sum," according to Michael Cogley of the IRISH INDEPENDENT. Eir CEO Richard Moat said that "it is the company’s first step in owning television content." He said, "This is an extremely exciting and very important first step for us
in television content ownership. We will now offer our customers the
widest range and highest caliber of sports content in Ireland. Buying
Setanta Sports Ireland is a game changer for Eir and is our largest
acquisition since we purchased Meteor in 2005." The deal "is subject to approval from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission as well as the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources ahead of completion" (IRISH INDEPENDENT, 12/7). In Dublin, Fiona Reddan wrote Eir "would not comment on the sale price," but industry sources have previously suggested that Setanta could be worth up to €20M ($21.6M). Eir Consumer Managing Dir Jon Florsheim said that the deal "will propel Eir into the content space." He said, "We are confident the Eir brand together with our great value bundles will now appeal to even more households" (IRISH TIMES, 12/7). RTE reported Eir "has around 2.3 million fixed-line and mobile service customers across the country." Setanta Sports Ireland "offers exclusive live sports content, including matches from the English Premier League, the UEFA Champions League and the European Rugby Champions Cup." Setanta customers "have access to six channels, which include the BT Sport channels and ESPN" (RTE, 12/7).
