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Justice Dept Approves XM-Sirius Deal


                March 24th, 2008 @ 1:20pm
                                                                                   WASHINGTON (AP) - The Justice Department approved Sirius Satellite Radio's $5 billion buyout of rival XM Satellite Radio on Monday, saying the deal was unlikely to hurt competition or consumers.
The deal was approved despite opposition from consumer groups and an intense lobbying campaign by the land-based radio industry.
The buyout received shareholder approval in November. The companies said the merger will save hundreds of millions of dollars in operating costs _ savings that will ultimately benefit their customers.
The Justice Department, in a lengthy news release explaining its decision, said the two companies compete not just with each other but also with other forms of radio and entertainment.
"The likely evolution of technology in the future, including the expected introduction in the next several years of mobile broadband Internet devices, made it even more unlikely that the transaction would harm consumers in the longer term," the Justice Department said. "Accordingly, the division has closed its investigation of the proposed merger."
XM Satellite shares rose $1.97, or 16.5 percent, to $13.90 in afternoon trading after the government's announcement while Sirius shares rose 28 cents, or almost 10 percent, to $3.18.

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ORIGINAL: ChevyRacing88

so now is Sirius going to have the great signal reception that XM has?? i wanna buy a radio thats the size of an ipod to replace my ipod  lol but the signal is crap on them

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MERGER UPDATE On March 24, XM announced that the Department of Justice (DOJ) had approved the proposed merger with SIRIUS. XM is pleased that after a thorough review, the DOJ agrees that the entertainment marketplace will remain highly competitive and robust after our merger.

With the DOJ's decision behind us, our next and final regulatory step will be a decision from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Soon after FCC approval is obtained, XM and Sirius would complete the merger.

The combination of our companies will lead to more choices and better pricing for our subscribers, and result in a stronger competitor in the rapidly evolving audio entertainment market.

As we have said, no XM radio will become obsolete as a result of the merger. We have millions of radios in use, including many that are factory-installed in automobiles. After the merger, our subscribers will not need another radio to continue to receive programming like they now enjoy. The XM platform will continue to offer a full complement of programming to our millions of subscribers.

We'll communicate directly to our subscribers once the FCC has rendered its decision.