Benchmark Capital Europe Acquires 50% of NASN (North American Sport Network)

Benchmark Capital Europe Acquires 50% of NASN (North American Sport Network)

LONDON, June 8/PRNewswire/ --

- Setanta Increases Stake in Channel as Further Expansion Plans Announced

Benchmark Capital Europe, the top tier venture capital firm, today announced that it has acquired a 50% shareholding in NASN (North American Sports Network), Europe's only TV channel exclusively dedicated to broadcasting all of the top North American sports leagues.

NASN (www.nasn.com) launched in December 2002 in the UK and Ireland, targeting North American and European fans of North American sports. The service is broadcast 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and is marketed as a premium subscription channel in the UK and Ireland where it is available on the Sky, ntl and Telewest platforms.

NASN broadcasts the best of North American sports including Major League Baseball, the NBA (Basketball), the NHL (Ice Hockey), the NFL (American Football) and NASCAR racing, along with exclusive coverage of all the leading college sports. The schedule features an extensive selection of live games and games shown 'as live' to facilitate European time zones. In addition, the channel broadcasts some of the top American sports shows from leading US networks, including 'Baseball Tonight', 'SportsDesk' and 'Around the Horn' from ESPN.

Since November 2004, NASN has been available on the KDG, ieshy and ISH cable platforms in Germany as part of its new digital TV package. In addition, in 2005 it has become available in Switzerland, the Netherlands, Iceland and in US Air Force bases in Germany. The channel plans to expand its distribution further into Europe and Asia during 2005.

Benchmark investment follows a shareholder restructuring whereby Setanta Sport acquired co-founding investor Vulcan European Media Holdings' 70% stake in the channel. Following the sale to Benchmark, Setanta Sport now holds a 50% stake in NASN. The transaction is subject to approval by the Irish Competition Authority.

Ynon Kreiz, General Partner at Benchmark Capital Europe commented: "This acquisition is part of our strategy to expand our investments into the media sector. We believe NASA has the potential to increase distribution in the UK and can be a great proposition in other markets in Europe and Asia. Our objective is to make NASN the 'home' of North American sports outside of the US."

Leonard Ryan, Joint CEO of Setanta Sports, added: "We look forward to the continued growth and development of NASN and have been pleased with its development and the positive reaction of subscribers since the launch in December 2002. Our increased stake in NASN is part of the international growth of Setanta Sports. We have developed strong relationships with the leading American sport associations as well as large US networks and are looking to further build on this as we expand our channel into new territories."

NASN Chief Executive, Amory Schortz, said: "Today's announcement will facilitate further growth of the successful NASN channel. Recently, we expanded broadcasting from the UK and Ireland to include Germany, Holland, Iceland and Switzerland and now we hope to expand into more of Europe and Asia. In addition, we will look at further develop the range of quality programmes available to North American sports fans living in Europe.

About Benchmark Capital

Benchmark Capital was founded in 1995 to help talented entrepreneurs build great technology companies focused on long-term growth. Benchmark's partners take an intensive, hands-on, team-oriented, approach to venture investing to deliver a superior level of service to the firm's portfolio companies. Benchmark's portfolio includes franchise companies such as Alphyra (the leading pan European electronic payments provider), Betfair (the world's largest online betting company), eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY), Juniper Networks (Nasdaq: JNPR), Sulake (the "Habbo Hotel" leading online games community, founded in Finland), Red Hat (Nasdaq: RHAT), Zopa (the online exchange for direct loans between lenders and borrowers) and Codemasters (the innovative computer and video games developer and publisher). Managing more than $3 billion in committed venture capital, Benchmark focuses on investing in entrepreneurs with original ideas. Since setting up a fund in Europe in May 2000, Benchmark has made more than 35 investments across a variety of market sectors and geographies. The $375m raised by Benchmark Europe II follows Benchmark's first European fund of $500m.

For more information on Benchmark, visit its website at www.benchmark.com

About Setanta Sport

Setanta Sport is a world leader in providing premium sporting content via subscription television channels, pay-per-view services, closed circuit-broadcasting networks, broadband and mobile telephony.

The company's channel brands include Setanta Sports (UK and Ireland, broadcasting on cable and Satellite), and Setanta PPV channels. In addition, Setanta broadcasts NASN and Racing UK in association with its partners. The company also holds exclusive television rights to the Scottish Premier League and also produces the television channels for the two leading Scottish clubs, Celtic and Rangers.

Setanta Media holds significant stakes in the franchises for some of Ireland's newest radio stations namely, Dublin's Newstalk 106 and KCLR from Kilkenny/Carlow. It also has significant new media interests and operates Ireland's leading sports Web site and provides a range of premium sporting services through SMS to Vodafone.

The group's headquarters is in Dublin with offices also located in London, Glasgow, San Francisco, Sydney and Vancouver.

Further information on the company and its multiple operations see www.setanta.com

Source: Benchmark Capital Europe

Press Information: Benchmark Capital Europe (Mantra): Nick Bishop, +44-(0)20-7907-7815 / +44-(0)7736-067-190, nbishop@mantra-pr.com . Setanta Sports (Financial Dynamics): Brendan Murphy, +353-1-6633615, brendan@fdireland.ie

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