Irish sport broadcaster Setanta has cancelled plans to sell itself.
It seems the market isn’t quite ready to cough up something approaching $2bn for a business, that while it is growing well, isn’t yet profitable. Bankers Goldman Sachs have seemingly found it difficult to find much interest, especially at the reported £1bn price being talked about in the marketplace.
Setanta has rights to some English Premiership soccer games, as well as Scottish league matches. It has held the English soccer rights to 46 games since 2006. Evidently Setanta was seeking fresh investment cash to help fund the probable upward costs of renewing these rights and securing fresh exclusive sports coverage. One name repeatedly mentioned as a possible buyers was Disney-ABC via its ESPN sports division.
Now, according to reports, Setanta will look to its existing investors to inject extra funding. Setanta’s shareholders include founders Leonard Ryan and Michael O’Rourke, as well as private equity investors Doughty Hanson, AIG Insurance, and investment bank Goldman Sachs.
Source: Rapid TV News | 
07-04-2008
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