London—Dentons has advised Viaplay, the international media and entertainment group, on its acquisition of Premier Sports from Setanta Sports.

Founded in 2009 and based in Dublin, Premier Sports operates sports streaming service and TV channels available across the UK. Their UK sports rights include La Liga, Scottish Cup, Scottish League Cup and Coppa Italia football; United Rugby Championship, Rugby Football League and Top 14 rugby; NASCAR motorsport; and the Elite Ice Hockey League. Premier Sports currently has a total of 222,000 paying subscribers to its pay-TV channels. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval.

The acquisition marks a significant acceleration of Viaplay's ambitions in the UK, ahead of the launch of the Viaplay streaming service in the country this autumn. Premier Sports’ portfolio of attractive sports rights complements the rights that Viaplay has previously secured for the UK, and its platforms are available across the UK through long-term distribution agreements with Sky, Virgin, Amazon and Netgem TV. In addition to content and distribution, the acquisition will also deliver synergies with Viaplay in sports production, while boosting Viaplay’s local brand awareness amongst viewers.

The Dentons team advising Viaplay was led by corporate partners Darren Acres, Eavan Saunders (Dublin) and Ciaran O'Boyle (Dublin) and TMT and sports sector specialist Nick Harrison. They were supported by senior associates Ryan Chia, Tom Dalton and Rukia Khatun and, associates Rebekah Hobbs, Rose McDowall and Nadege Serna together with a number of other specialist teams in the firm.

Viaplay is a longstanding client of Dentons. Last year, the Firm advised Viaplay on the sale of its UK distribution business (formerly known as NENT Studios) to All3Media.

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