US tycoon tables €23m rescue bid

US tycoon Len Blavatnik has confirmed he has tabled a proposed rescue deal for cash-strapped Irish broadcaster Setanta.

The €23.5 million offer for 51% of Setanta is part of what is believed to be an overall €50m rescue plan, which involves Setanta founders Michael O’Rourke and Leonard Ryan, as well as other shareholders, investing the balance.

Setanta’s potential white knight, who already owns 3% of Setanta, founded Access Industries — a privately owned industrial group — in 1986. Access also has interests in Top-up TV, Freeview’s pay TV service, Israeli television’s Sport 5 and online sports provider Perform Group.

Access currently has a holding of less than 5% in Setanta.

A statement from the firm yesterday said: “Access Industries can confirm that this morning it submitted a proposal to the board of Setanta to acquire a majority interest in Setanta, refinancing the company.

“The Access proposal is subject to a number of pre-conditions being met. Access believes that this proposal would secure the future of the broadcaster for customers, football and employees.”

The spokesman said he was unable to disclose the terms of the proposal.

Setanta has TV rights including the FA Cup, World Cup qualifiers, Premier League, Scottish Premier League, and the Blue Square Conference — but is struggling to pay for them as customer numbers have dwindled in the recession.

The broadcaster has around 1.2 million subscribers, but that is short of the reported 1.9 million it needs to break even.

The group has made a part payment to the English Premier League, which is owed stg£35m (€41m) by Monday for unpaid rights fees. And it has started to take new subscriptions for its services after suspending all new customer subscriptions on Wednesday.