Sirius Satellite Radio acquiring XM Satellite Radio

Sirius Satellite Radio has announced their plans to acquire rival XM Satellite Radio. The deal could be worth around $4.6 billion in stock.

This would further bring entertainers such as Oprah Winfrey and shock-jock Howard Stern under one roof. However, analysts believe that the deal could face massive protests from the regulatory bodies.

The deal being planned by the two companies would see XM shareholders receiving 4.6 Sirius shares for each XM share held.

U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin said in a statement that they would be reviewing the outcome of such a deal. He further said that the two companies would have to prove that the deal would be beneficial for the end customer.

XM and Sirius have said that the consumers would benefit as they can together offer improved services at flexible prices.

XM Chairman Gary Parsons said in a statement: “We are confident we will get this through the regulatory arena by the end of this year. Over a decade ago when the first satellite licenses first came out, there were no iPods, there was no HD radio, there were no streaming music on cell phones.”