Well the long anticipated merger looks like it's finally going to happen. Today XM Satellite Radio Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ XMSR) and Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) announced that they're combining and Mel Karmazin, SIRI's CEO will end up as CEO of the new firm.
Both satellite radio companies have been losing money as they tried to gain new customers. Now, they estimate that combined they will be able to save $7 billion annually in marketing and other costs. If you just add the two companies together you have $1.4 billion in revenue and $1.9 billion in losses so those costs savings better happen.
The new home of Howard Stern, Frank Sinatra, NASCAR, Oprah Winfrey, Bob Dylan and Major League Baseball will have 12 million subscribers.
Since SIRI's market capitalization of $5.2 billion is $1.45 billion bigger than XMSR's $3.75 billion, it makes sense for Mel to come out on top. But it will take about 15 months for the deal to get approved.
Now let's hope that the new combined company can make money.
Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm, He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in SIRI or XMSR.



Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
2-19-2007 @ 3:39PM
ellen said...
what will happen to sirius stock when the merge is
confirmed
2-19-2007 @ 4:04PM
BOB said...
HAS ANYONE COME UP WITH A PROPOSED STOCK VALUE FOR SIRI WHEN AND IF MERGER FINALIZED?
2-19-2007 @ 4:22PM
JJ said...
Good question. I have 700 shares of Sirius. What do you think will happen to them?
2-21-2007 @ 1:26PM
rr said...
Have 10,000 shares of siri, do i hold,buy or sell, and why...Thx
2-19-2007 @ 5:31PM
John Grillo said...
This is what we've been waiting for , hip hip hurrah! This is going to save money and be great for shareholders and the sattelite radio bussiness.
Go Siri, Go Xm the product is great. Pump up the volume, pump up the volume dance, dance.
2-24-2007 @ 1:57AM
mstolz said...
Can someone tell me what happens to my sirius stock now. I hear only good things about XM ...but what are my siri shares going to be worth?
2-19-2007 @ 6:33PM
roc ape said...
I've been holding onto 5000 shares of sirius for the past three years.last fri i sold them all at a $12,500 lose.can someone tell me what they think those 5000 shares are going to be worth next fri?
2-19-2007 @ 7:13PM
KFTodd said...
Unfotunately, XM is the BIG Loser here-I'm Not a Subscriber yet-was thinking about XM (ONLY) But with that SLOB HS on Anything - You lose!
2-19-2007 @ 11:25PM
Bee said...
What will happen to the Siri stock I currently own?
2-20-2007 @ 2:43PM
mstolz said...
Does anyone know the answer to my question? What happens to Sirius stock when the merger takes place
2-20-2007 @ 12:30AM
rooboru said...
Been waiting for that answer all day.
2-20-2007 @ 12:32AM
rooboru said...
I'd like to know what's going to happen with the stock price tomorrow.
2-20-2007 @ 2:55AM
Jeannie said...
I bought a serius radio for my fiance' for Christmas and it broke three months after he had it. The store I bought it from refuses to refund my money and serius refuses to fix the broken radio. We still keep getting bills for our radio that doesn't work though. I have spoken to every customer service person from here to India and have yet to find an answer to this problem. I knew they were having money problems because they wouldn't spend a dime on trying to fix our radio. I hope xfm has better customer service than serius radio does.
Has anyone else had this problem?
Jeannie
2-20-2007 @ 2:55AM
Jeannie said...
Serius has horrible customer service and won't take care of their clientele. Our serius radio worked for about 3 months and has been broken ever since a year ago last Christmas. They refuse to fix it, replace it and they still want us to pay the bill.
Anyone else having these problems with serius?
Thanks,
Jeannie
2-20-2007 @ 11:29AM
douglas mcintyre said...
The company cannot save $7 billion a year. The combined entity does not spend that much. It would be saving more than they put out
2-20-2007 @ 10:26AM
cjjones said...
XM holders will get 4.6 shares of SIRI for every share they hold. Value of SIRI will be whatever the market value is on the day the merger goes through. You can find out how much the deal is worth by taking current SIRI price times 4.6 to get the applicable value of what the XMSR stock should be. This, of course will move all over the place until the deal is done (or not done). If and when the companies merge, it appears they will rename the company and new company will have the SIRI valuation per share on that date. The rest is up to the what the market perceives is the risk of the merger being denied compared to the potential up price of the two stocks.
2-20-2007 @ 1:46PM
Matt said...
I own 25 shares of XMSR. What are they now worth?
2-20-2007 @ 12:47PM
cjjones said...
mtstolz - It would be renamed to the new company name. Price would be whatever SIRI closes at on that particular day.
2-20-2007 @ 12:52PM
cjjones said...
I don't think it was stated as $7B a year, but around $7B in total over the life of the merger. Most will come from reduced marketing/talent acquisition costs.
2-20-2007 @ 11:05PM
mstolz said...
Thank you for the answers I so needed to hear. Mel Karmazin is a very smart man. He left CBS for Sirius radio. I am sure he would not have done this if he thought it would not be in his best interest to do so. This man knows the course that these two companys are taking. He is a man with a plan. Thanks again cjjones for making this clear to me.