Eir on Monday announced that it has acquired sports broadcaster Setanta Sports Ireland for an undisclosed sum.
The Irish telecoms incumbent said the deal enables it to extend the range of TV services and content offers it provides to its customers.
" This is an extremely exciting and very important first step for us in television content ownership," said Richard Moat, CEO of Eir, in a statement.
"Buying Setanta Sports Ireland is a game changer for Eir and is our largest acquisition since we purchased [mobile operator] Meteor in 2005," Moat said.
Sentanta Sports Ireland comes with a range of exclusive content rights, including top-end football from the English Premier League, FA Cup and the Champions League, as well as rights to various rugby, Formula 1 and golf competitions, among other sports. It also has BT Sport’s Irish rights, which Eir will gain as part of the deal.
"Eir’s scale and reach presents us with the opportunity to grow our sports offering in Ireland," said Michael O’Rourke, Setanta Sports Ireland’s chief executive and majority shareholder.
"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," O’Rourke added. "This agreement will ensure growing investment in Irish sport."
The deal requires various regulatory approvals, including that of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.
Eir said it will commence the formal approvals process in the coming weeks, but did not speculate on when it expects the deal to close.
