Cannes – FOX International Channels (FIC), a 21st Century Fox company, has announced that it is in the final stages of acquiring Setanta Africa Services Ltd., a sports channel bouquet distributed throughout all of sub-Saharan Africa in over one million homes. 

Setanta Africa broadcasts three sports channels: Setanta Africa which is available in English and French, Zuku Sports in HD in East Africa and the recently-launched Setanta Action. The channels cover football leagues from around the world, rugby, mixed martial arts and many other sporting events.

“The incorporation of Setanta Africa into our FIC Africa operation, which already includes leading entertainment, factual, lifestyle and children’s channels further reinforces our overall desire to invest and grow our presence in this rapidly-expanding region. Our commitment to deliver high quality content across all of our channels naturally extends to this new addition to our family”, says Alessandro Tucci, Sr. Vice President and General Manager of Fox International Channels Africa.

Michael O’Rourke, Setanta Africa’s Chairman is very excited about this opportunity and for what lies ahead, saying “The channels will have a very exciting future in the hands of such an experienced and passionate sports operator.”

“Being opportunistic and disciplined in our expansion efforts over the past two years, we have taken Fox Sports internationally from 17 million to over 71 million homes. By that measure, and when you include our company’s U.S. sports portfolio, Fox has become the most widely-distributed sports brand in the world today”, says Frank Carrere, SVP Business Development of Fox International Channels.