Setanta in crisis as deal collapses
The future of troubled sports broadcaster Setanta has been thrown into doubt as rescue negotiations failed and a key football contract was cancelled.
A potential deal with US tycoon Len Blavatnik's Access Industries, thought to be worth £20 million in return for a 51% stake, collapsed after "a number of issues" were not resolved in time.
Setanta earlier lost its licence to broadcast 46 Premier League football matches next season after failing to meet "certain contractual obligations".
An Access Industries spokesman said: "Access believed that this proposal could potentially have secured the future of the broadcaster for its customers, employees and for football, provided certain conditions required to put the business on a long-term viable footing were met.
"Regrettably, despite intensive efforts on all sides over the past few days, and despite significant progress in a number of areas, there remain a number of issues which we have been unable to resolve within the time available."
