News Corporation has completed the acquisition of ESPN Star Sports (ESS) by acquiring 50 per cent stake of the Walt Disney in the joint venture.
This marks the end of a 16 year old equal joint venture that was formed between the Rupert Murdoch-owned News Corp and Disney's ESPN to explore sports broadcasting in Asia.
The acquisition is made through a wholly owned subsidiary. With this, ESS is now a wholly owned subsidiary of News Corp. The company had June announced in the month of June that it will buyout ESPN's 50 per cent stake in ESS to become the sole owner of the sports network. It also marks the exit of ESPN from the Asian market.
"News Corporation and ESPN today announced that News Corporation, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, completed its acquisition of ESPN's partnership interest in ESPN STAR Sports (ESS) pursuant to their agreement announced on 6 June 2012," the company said.
The deal has already been cleared by the Competition Commission of India.
ESS has footprint across 24 countries in Asia through its 25 television networks and three broadband networks. Apart from India, it has offices in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Taiwan and Singapore, and employs more than 650 employees across the region.