Production company Endemol has been considering taking a share in troubled sports broadcaster Setanta. But earlier plans by Endemol, one of the world’s largest television production companies, to be an equal partner in Setanta with Access Industries have been scaled down. Access, the investment vehicle of Russian-born US billionaire Len Blavatnik, said last Friday that it had offered Setanta’s board £20m in return for a 51 per cent stake. That move seems to have played a part in Endemol’s cooling attitude.
Production company Endemol has been considering taking a share in troubled sports broadcaster Setanta. But earlier plans by Endemol, one of the world’s largest television production companies, to be an equal partner in Setanta with Access Industries have been scaled down. Access, the investment vehicle of Russian-born US billionaire Len Blavatnik, said last Friday that it had offered Setanta’s board £20m in return for a 51 per cent stake. That move seems to have played a part in Endemol’s cooling attitude. It is understood that Endemol was interested in going in with Access as equal partners and taking the whole of Setanta over, but they are less interested in taking a minority stake in Setanta. An alternative might be to take on some of Setanta’s sports production businesses. Endemol has a small sports production house, but is best known for reality formats such as Big Brother. There are historical ties conducting Setanta and Endemol. When he was a partner at Balderton, Ynon Kreiz, chief executive of the Netherlands-based production company, helped set up the private equity funding for Setanta. That turned it from a small-scale operator into a potential challenger to BSkyB.
Setanta was facing administration as early as tomorrow because a £35m instalment of its £392m three year contract with the Premiership was due and the company had little cash with which to pay it. The Premiership showed no appetite for patience with Setanta. However, after Mr Blavnik appeared as a potential rescuer, the Setanta board released £10m to the Premier League. It is believed that a re-scheduling of the rest of the payment has been agreed. Setanta now has until Friday to finish discussions with Access and then pay another £10m, with the balance due within a month.