XM and Sirius satellite radio are merging:
XM Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: XMSR) and SIRIUS Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement, under which the companies will be combined in a tax-free, all-stock merger of equals with a combined enterprise value of approximately $13 billion, which includes net debt of approximately $1.6 billion.
Under the terms of the agreement, XM shareholders will receive a fixed exchange ratio of 4.6 shares of SIRIUS common stock for each share of XM they own. XM and SIRIUS shareholders will each own approximately 50 percent of the combined company.
Mel Karmazin, currently Chief Executive Officer of SIRIUS, will become Chief Executive Officer of the combined company and Gary Parsons, currently Chairman of XM, will become Chairman of the combined company. The new company's board of directors will consist of 12 directors, including Messrs. Karmazin and Parsons, four independent members designated by each company, as well as one representative from each of General Motors and American Honda. Hugh Panero, the Chief Executive Officer of XM, will continue in his current role until the anticipated close of the merger.
I am an XM subscriber of about 5 months or so, and I have to say I'm excited about this. There were a couple of things I liked about Sirius' lineup (mostly the Underground Garage station), but as I was mostly wanting the satellite radio to follow the St. Louis Cardinals that left me only one option. To date, I've really enjoyed my XM, but there is the potential for the new version to offer a lot more.
I'm worried about about the price structure. The press release stated that they might go to a more ala carte price structure, but I worry that things like Major League Baseball and the NHL (or the NFL and NBA if those excite you more *yawn*) might be premiumly priced so that sports fans are basically screwed.
I'm hopeful this will turn out to be a good thing for us consumers...but maybe they will find a way to mess the whole thing up.
No comments:
Post a Comment