Mickey O’Rourke’s Premier Sports network ‘in sale talks’ with Swedes
Mickey O’Rourke’s Premier Sports may have caught the eye of a Nordic streaming company.
According to reports on Bloomberg, Viaplay Group AB is in negotiations to buy Premier Sports. The Stockholm-listed streaming company is looking to get British broadcasting rights before the launch there, say sources to the news website.
A source was quoted as saying that Viaplay aims to reach an agreement as soon as this month.
Bloomberg reported that other suitors had expressed interest in Premier Sports. Discussions are said to be ongoing without certainty that the discussions with Viaplay will lead to an agreement.
Premier Sports has significant operations in the UK and broadcasts live Scottish football, Spain’s La Liga, Rugby League and several other sports.
In April, Viaplay scored goals in the British market by securing the rights to show Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland men’s national team matches ahead of the World Cup.
Tom Ward, a media and telecom analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence, wrote in a research note that the potential acquisition “could accelerate Viaplay’s sports data” in the UK.
If the sale goes through, it would not be the first time O’Rourke sold one of the television companies he founded.
The contractor sold the famous Setanta TV to Ireland’s largest telecom group, which some industry sources suggested could have been worth € 20 million.
Viaplay said its policy is that they never comment on rumors or speculation.
Ladbrokes-linked companies post a loss of 4.5 million euros
It is not very often that bookmakers record a loss – but the Covid pandemic had other ideas, especially on the retail side of the sector.
According to recently published accounts, Ladbroke (Ireland), a company that owns Ladbrokes betting shops for its ultimate parent company Entain plc, recorded a loss before tax of almost EUR 4.5 million during its 2020 financial year.
The loss decreased from a profit before tax of almost EUR 2.7 million last year.
The results show that the average betting slip was € 12.86.
Just before the pandemic struck, Ladbroke Ireland paid a dividend of € 12 million to parent company Ladbrokes Betting & Gaming. No further dividends were declared.
Kearney-backed recruiter opens office in San Francisco
Mason Alexander, the Dublin-based recruitment and technology solution company co-owned by former Irish rugby player Rob Kearney, has opened its second US office in San Francisco.
Headquartered in Dublin and founded in 2013 by CEO Andrew Lynch, Mason Alexander’s new office received support from Enterprise Ireland.
The company’s footprint now also includes locations in New York, Dublin, Cork, Portugal and Romania.