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XM Shareholders Approve Sirius Merger

By Ed Oswald, BetaNews

November 13, 2007, 5:06 PM

XM and Sirius' proposed merger received near-unanimous support from shareholders, as the two companies announced they had cleared the next hurdle in becoming a single entity.

According to tabulations by XM, 99.8 percent of shareholders voted in favor of the transaction. The merger agreement calls for each XM shareholder to receive 4.6 Sirius shares for each share they own.

The news was music to Wall Streets ears. XM skyrocketed nearly 10 percent to close at $15.06, while Sirius rose 6.5 percent to close at $3.63. Both stocks looked poised to add onto those gains come Wednesday.

"Today's vote is the latest demonstration of the strong support for our merger from a wide range of individuals and prestigious organizations who recognize the benefits that a merger will bring to consumers," XM chairman Gary Parsons said of the results.

Sirius was also scheduled to hold a meeting to vote on the planned merger, which was also expected to receive overwhelming support. However, results of the vote there was not available as this story went to press.

Momentum towards the merger has built in recent weeks as both the Justice Department and FCC have appeared to be ready to approve the deal pending the receipt of additional information.

Earlier in the day, XM and Sirius brought out former FCC Chair Reed Hundt, a supporter of the deal, to advance their argument for the deal's approval.

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By kashin

edited Nov 13, 2007 - 9:37 PM

The shareholders are in this for one thing only: money. Their approval simply means they see an opportunity for more profit by creating a monopoly and eliminating competition. Someone explain to me how this benefits the public?

"Today's vote is the latest demonstration of the strong support for our merger from a wide range of individuals and prestigious organizations who recognize the benefits that a merger will bring to consumers,"

More like "a wide range of rich people looking to make themselves even richer". I would love to hear the list of "benefits" this will supposedly bring to consumers. Which brings me to my next question. Where is that list? Yeah, that's what I thought.

Score: 0

By WeezulDK

posted Nov 14, 2007 - 9:29 PM

How is two companies that are not profitable or are seriously struggling combining to form a profitable company "eliminating competition". It's not. Either they join together or both go out of business, and then there isn't any competition at all, and even then, sattelite radio isn't exactly going to put terrestrial radio out of business.