I wrote a feature-length article about this just last week.
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The two main U.S. satellite radio providers, Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio on Monday said they would merge in a stock-for-stock deal, a move that has been long expected in the young industry.
XM and Sirius said they would combine to create a company with an enterprise value of $13 billion, including $1.6 billion in net debt.
Under the terms of the deal, XM stockholders will get 4.6 shares in Sirius.
Veteran media executive Mel Karmazin, currently Sirius CEO, will be CEO of the combined company, and Gary Parsons, now chairman of XM, will hold the same position in the new company. The deal will need regulatory approval.
My conclusion was in the form of a warning, because Canada’s socialists within the Liberal Party and the CRTC and the state-run CBC made a point of arranging (during the Chretien/Martin/Dion regime) for the state-run CBC to buy a huge chunk of the new Canadian subsidiary of SIRIUS radio. Yes you read that right. SIRIUS in Canada is partially state-owned through the CBC.
If socialists have their way, they will demand that the state increase their stake in this bigger and more powerful company—making the state an even bigger player than it already is in Canada’s media. As we in the sensible non-communist set know, the state has no business being involved in media ownership. State-ownership of media should be banned in Canada.
I suggested that the merger would provide the new Conservative government with an more elegant means through which to arrange for the state-run CBC to get their butts out from where it doesn’t belong—private enterprise and media. Please read my column about it.
PTBC was founded by Mr. Johannesen in 2000.
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