In a somewhat shocking development — well shocking to me — XM and SIRIUS have decided to throw competition out the window and merge as a powerful satellite radio megaton robot. From the press release detailing the agreement:

XM Satellite Radio (Nasdaq: XMSR) and SIRIUS Satellite Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement, under which the companies will be combined in a tax-free, all-stock merger of equals with a combined enterprise value of approximately $13 billion, which includes net debt of approximately $1.6 billion.
Under the terms of the agreement, XM shareholders will receive a fixed exchange ratio of 4.6 shares of SIRIUS common stock for each share of XM they own. XM and SIRIUS shareholders will each own approximately 50 percent of the combined company.
Mel Karmazin, currently Chief Executive Officer of SIRIUS, will become Chief Executive Officer of the combined company and Gary Parsons, currently Chairman of XM, will become Chairman of the combined company. The new company’s board of directors will consist of 12 directors, including Messrs. Karmazin and Parsons, four independent members designated by each company, as well as one representative from each of General Motors and American Honda. Hugh Panero, the Chief Executive Officer of XM, will continue in his current role until the anticipated close of the merger.

Booyakasha. Another win for Howard Stern? I guess XM figured if you can’t beat em, join em.

1. DickMcVengeance says:
   February 19th, 2007 at 11:33 pm

   Both companies were hemorrhaging money, because they weren’t able to make any sort of profit with the few number of subscribers that they had. They’re going with the argument that this merger is necessary in order to keep the satellite radio industry alive. I’ll be interested to see if the FCC allows this to happen.