NEW YORK – Research firm The Stanford Group says there’s a 60% chance and Goldman Sachs puts the odds at just 30% that a merger between satellite radio rivals Sirius and XM will get approval, according to an article in USA Today. It needs FCC approval and the U.S. Justice Department could also challenge the deal on the grounds it would create a monopoly.
Sirius announced an agreement last February offering stock currently worth about $5 billion for XM.
Canadian companies so far have refused to speculate on what a merger would do to XM and Sirius in Canada.
Several analysts were disappointed by non-car radio sales for Sirius and XM in the third quarter, according to the USA Today article.
“There’s some merger speculation built into both stocks,” James Goss at Barrington Research Associates was quoted in the article. “If there was definitely not going to be a merger, either of them would be vulnerable.”
Sirius had 7.7 million subscribers on September 30 and XM has almost 8.6 million subscribers.
