Sirius-XM Merger Approved

 

After nearly a year and a half of waiting, fighting and lobbying Sirius and XM Satellite finally got the final votes needed to break a deadlock and win FCC approval for the merger. The deciding vote was cast in favor of the merger by none other than the FCC Chairman Keven J Martin himself.

Folks let me tell you, this deal has been a long drawn out ordeal with a huge amount of money made and lost by investors and traders over these last 18 months or so. Each time the deal appeared to be ready to pass, the stocks of both companies would run up about 25% only to fall back when another hurdle would arise which again would cast doubt on these two companies joining forces.

The naysayers were firm in the fact that allowing the merger would create a monopoly in the radio satellite arena. And for sure this is a fact. They argue that this will eventually lead to much higher prices for the consumer who uses these type of services.

Those for the merger argued that with all the free radio programs there could be no such thing as a monopoly in the radio business. They also said that both companies were losing so much money that for either to survive as a going concern they must pool technology and cut costs. Again a lot of merit to this argument also.

What will the final outcome be? I know only time will tell. Personally I have thought all along that since both companies were a “pay to get” service then there should never have been any tough decision. Those who did not want the service could always simply not subscribe.

For sure there will be a lot of money made in these two companies for the short term investor and day traders over the coming weeks. But for the consumer and long term investor? Time will tell but I wish both the companies and investors the best of luck and applaud this ending…….finally.

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