News Corp boosts its Asian portfolio with the acquisition of ESPN Star Sports

News Corporation and ESPN 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 June 6, 2012.

Upon the closing of the acquisition, ESS became a wholly-owned subsidiary of News Corporation.

The deal significantly boosts News Corp’s Asian portfolio.  ESS regards itself as the complete sports content provider, showcasing a diverse array of international and regional sports from around the globe and delivering premium sports content across multiple platforms to sports fans all over Asia. It broadcasts to viewers across 24 countries in Asia through its 25 television networks and three broadband networks, each localised to deliver differentiated programming.

Programming is broadcast from a 73,000 square-foot state-of-the-art production facility and earth station in Singapore. ESS has offices in China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Taiwan and Singapore, and employs more than 650 employees across the region.