XM Got Sirius
February 20th, 2007 by Grant in: TechnologyPresidents Day brought good news for XM and Sirius stock holders. While long speculated, a merger between the two companies came to fruition Monday afternoon.
And while both companies are go for orbit, the idea still has get through a tough de-orbit burn. The FCC, the SEC, and the justice department are all going to weigh in on the deal, and depending on who you talk to, any three letter acronym could burn the deal on the launch pad.
Monopoly seems to be the word de jurfor the skeptics, while others are fairly optimistic about the odds of the deal getting a blessing from all parties.
I have no idea which way the ball will bounce, but I’m not sure I’d be worried about the monopoly argument. Not for an infantile industry that provides a luxury service to a small subscriber base. Of course, the Dish/EchoStar deal was in the same boat, and the powers that be nixed that deal as well.
Some analysts suggest that the two companies could stand alone should the deal end up being torn apart, but it will be a struggle to manage costs for a long time to come. Let’s face it, Sirius (XM too) hasn’t posted stellar numbers as of late…
Personally, I’m indifferent about the deal, and although I did own Sirius stock at one time, the only way to make money on SATRAD these days is to take advantage of merger speculation.
That time, it appears has come and gone.
- FCC Hurdles Loom for XM, Sirius Merger (AP)
- XM, Sirius plan seen testing US antitrust limits (Reuters)
- XM/Sirius Merger: Shotgun Wedding?(Herb Greenberg)
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