Telecom company eir has bought Setanta Sports Ireland to expand its TV offering. Richard Moat, CEO of eir 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 calibre 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.”

Setanta Sports Ireland offers a range of exclusive sports content in the Republic of Ireland including live Barclays Premier League Games, every UEFA Champions League game and exclusive Europa League games, FA Cup, exclusive European Rugby Champions Cup games, all Formula 1 races, live Allianz League GAA games plus English Aviva Premiership Rugby.

BT Sport 1, BT Sport 2, BT Sport Europe and BT Sport ESPN are also available as part of the Setanta Sports Pack in the Republic of Ireland.

Setanta founder and CEO Michael O’Rourke, (pictured left, with Richard Moat, centre, and eir's Jon Florsheim) said, “Today marks a significant milestone for Setanta Sports Ireland. This is really positive news for our customers, our colleagues and our business. eir’s scale and reach presents us with the opportunity to grow our sports offering in Ireland. Since the launch of our Irish business in 2004 we have worked hard to build a business that ensures Irish sports fans can access the widest possible choice of Irish and International sport. This agreement will ensure growing investment in Irish sport.”

The consideration was not disclosed, with press speculation centring on a figure of €20m. The deal is subject to regulatory approval.

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