The Walt Disney-owned sports network ESPN has said it has no present plans to buy struggling Irish pay-television broadcaster Setanta.
Setanta confirmed on Wednesday that it had stopped taking on new customers in an attempt “to secure the future of the business". Media reports have suggested that EPSN were considering and had possibly made a bid to takeover the company, which has all week undertaken emergency refinancing talks to try and stave off administration.
"We currently have no plans to buy Setanta," an ESPN spokesman said. "There are a lot of stories out there that link ESPN with a possible purchase. We wanted to set the record straight."
It is believed however that were Setanta to fold and its Premier League rights in the UK go back onto the market, the American-based broadcaster would likely make a bid. The broadcaster bid for Premier League rights from 2010-11 to 2012-13 in February but lost out to BSkyB and Setanta.
