Fox International Channels to Acquire Setanta Africa

Johannesburg, South Africa, October 8, 2013 — Fox International Channels (FIC), a 21st Century Fox company, is buying Setanta Africa, the broadcaster whose television channel bouquet takes football, rugby, martial arts and other sports to a million homes in sub-Saharan Africa.

The acquisition is subject to approval by the Irish Competition Authority. Setanta is an international sports broadcaster based in Dublin, Ireland. It was formed in 1990, initially to facilitate the broadcasting of Irish sporting events. The company now operates in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Asia, Africa, and Australia.

Under the deal, FIC will control three sports channels: Setanta Africa, which broadcasts in English and French; East Africa's Zuku Sports in HD; and Setanta Action. The channels are distributed across Africa on a variety of direct-to-home (DTH), digital terrestrial television (DTT) and free-to-air broadcast platforms. The channels feature football leagues from around the world, rugby, mixed martial arts, and many other attractive sporting events.

"The incorporation of Setanta Africa into our FIC Africa operation, which already includes leading entertainment, factual, lifestyle and children's channels further reinforces our overall desire to invest and grow our presence in this rapidly expanding region. Our commitment to deliver high quality content across all of our channels naturally extends to this new addition to our family," said Alessandro Tucci, senior vice president and general manager of FIC Africa.

Frank Carrere, SVP business development of FIC, said by their expansion efforts over the past two years have resulted in the international expansion of Fox Sports from 17 million to over 71 million homes worldwide.

“By that measure, and when you include our company's US sports portfolio, Fox has become the most widely distributed sports brand in the world today," he said.

Michael O'Rourke, chairman of Setanta Africa, said the channels will have a very exciting future in the hands of such an experienced and passionate sports operator.

In August, FIC announced the South African launch of its global crime and investigation entertainment network, FoxCrime. FIC said FoxCrime’s most recent entry adds 1.6 million subscribers to the brand’s 25 million existing global households.