Television and sports rights company Setanta has refused to participae in the latest fundraising at NewsTalk 106 but said its decision was not a vote of no confidence in the station.

The company was a founding shareholder in the Dublin-based NewsTalk, but Mr Frank Cronin, a senior management figure at Setanta, said its decision was not a reflection on the station itself.

"We are a television company and that is our priority. We remain upbeat about the station's prospects but our focus at present is on building our television interests."

NewsTalk has declined to disclose the amount of money involved in the latest fundraising, but it leaves the Denis O'Brien-controlled Radio 2000 Ltd as the largest shareholder with a 42.5 per cent stake.

Setanta's decision not to participate in the fundraising dilutes its shareholding from 28 per cent to 13 per cent.

Ironically, Capital Radio Productions (owners of FM 104) is now the second largest shareholder in the company with 15 per cent equity.

The chief executive of Capital Radio, Mr Dermot Hanrahan, has been one of the fiercest critics of the station and, until recently, was attempting to sell his stake.

The third largest shareholder is now Hyper Trust (14 per cent), a group associated with CKR, the local station in the Carlow franchise area.

The fourth largest shareholder is a company called Kalacastle Ltd (10 per cent), which is linked to LM FM in Louth/Meath. Other smaller shareholders have about 5 per cent. The change in shareholdings was approved this week by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland.

Mr Cronin said Setanta was currently trying to raise money in order to fund major expansion, particularly of its American sports TV channel, NASN.

NewsTalk has experienced difficulty building an audience in Dublin since its launch last year, although the last set of JNLR figures showed some signs of improvement. The station's promoters favour going national but this is unlikely in the short term.