It's funny what different news services choose to focus on when reporting the same situation. Thomas Barnett, assistant attorney general at the Justice Department, was asked about the Sirius-XM merger review at a congressional hearing yesterday, yet two media outlets each have an entirely different take on what was said.
The Denver Post is reporting that DOJ officials need more information to determine whether the proposed merger of Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. would hurt consumers.
"I can't give you an exact time frame," Barnett told Rep. Ric Keller, at a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee's antitrust task force.
Meanwhile Reuters is reporting that the Justice Department is moving "as quickly as possible" in its antitrust review.
"We want to do that as quickly as possible, but we also want to get to the right answer," Barnett told lawmakers.
Bank of America analyst Jonathan Jacoby chose to focus on the former statement in a note issued this morning.
"The big question is what does 'more information' require for the merger process at the DOJ? Will it require more documentation from the companies or just more time by the DOJ to review the submitted documents?" wrote Jacoby. He also noted that Bank of America has not had the chance to speak with their regulatory contacts this morning.
Jacoby pointed out that while the delay could be minimal, "it could also be longer than the market would anticipate." Adding that it would likely take longer than the 15-45 days that the street is hoping on.
Bank of America's contacts put the chances of the satellite radio marriage receiving regulatory approvals before the end of 1Q08 at ~30%.
This Orbitcast post states that "Bank of America has had the chance to speak with their regulatory contacts this morning."
However, the post on SiriusBuzz states "We note that we have not yet had a chance to speak with our regulatory contacts this morning."
http://siriusbuzz.com/boas-jacoby-issues-satellite-radio-note.php#more-806
Can you clarify this? Has BoA talked to their contacts this morning or not?
Thanks
That was a typo on my behalf, BoA had not had the chance to speak with their contacts regarding this this morning.
Thanks Bruce, I've fixed the post.
WOW, regulatory contacts huh? Isn't that like having inside information? Why is that not illegal what they are doing? If it isn't public information for everyone to have, then they should not be tipped off to when and if a merger is approved. BofA needs to get this Jacoby guy under control, real fast, before they are staring at a mega lawsuit. Jacoby has been a leech in the sat radio arena for a long time, and I think its time for him to go away. I recommend anyone involved with SIRI or XM close any banking ties you have with BofA if they want to hire and be associated with people like this guy.
>>> Isn't that like having inside information?
No. It could well just be attorneys who know WTF they're talking about.
Why is it SIriots want to bash Jacoby constantly? He is certainly among the most knowledgeable of the analysts covering the sector. Perhaps it is because he is one of the few who has been able to see through the hype at Sirius well enough to recognize its problems.
Personally, since Marc Nabi was fired from Merrill (presumably, because he preferred XM over Sirius, but XM wasn't trading a billion shares daily, thus there was no money to be made by a broker recommending XM), Jacoby has been more on top of the industry than any of them -- even Peck, IMO.
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