SETANTA SPORTS’ loss-making business in the United States and the Caribbean will cease trading on February 28th after its Irish owners agreed to sell certain assets to Fox Soccer Channel for an undisclosed sum.

Three staff based in the US will be made redundant while the small number of Dublin-based employees who worked for the American business will be redeployed within Setanta.

Fox, part of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, is acquiring “select” programming rights from Setanta in the US, including football and rugby events.

Setanta has rights in the US to the English Premier League, the FA Cup, the Uefa Champions League, the Heineken Cup, the Magners League and the Guinness Premiership.

It is not clear how much Fox has paid but a source said it was a meaningful sum. Its Irish owners are believed to have put funds into the US business last summer, when parts of the group were rescued from financial collapse.

Setanta co-founder Leonard Ryan said: “Having examined several options for our US business, we concluded that the best course of action for the group is to exit the US market and concentrate on other markets where we can be a more substantial player in sports television. This transaction enables us to achieve that objective and to explore new opportunities in other markets.”

The US business is owned by Mr Ryan, his co-founder Michael O’Rourke and long-time Setanta executive Mark O’Meara. Denis Desmond, who owns 60 per cent of Setanta’s Irish business, is not a shareholder in the US company.

In a statement yesterday, Setanta said the Irish business “remains profitable”.

Setanta also has sports channels in Canada (co-owned with Rogers Communications and delivering “significant profitability”) and Australia, which are unaffected by the Fox deal.

Setanta’s British business was placed into administration last year after its failure to make payments to various sports bodies.