Sirius XM Radio Inc. and Liberty Media Inc. near a deal late Monday though negotiations still remain over the final details, reports the Wall Street Journal citing people familiar with the matter.
Media mogul John C. Malone appears poised to the edge past rival Charlie Ergen for a piece of the troubled satellite-radio operator.
A deal with Liberty Media would create a satellite-media juggernaut around Liberty's DirectTV Group Inc. and Sirius XM Radio.
Under the proposed agreement, Liberty would invest several hundred million dollars in Sirius XM in two stages and eventually control about half of the company, WSJ sources said.
The deal is more palatable than that of Charlie Ergen's - who had been seeking outright control in return for a roughly $500 million investment and an agreement to restructure about $400 million in Sirius XM's debt that he holds.
Negotiations still continue for the final details as we go into the 11th hour.
[Wall Street Journal]
A deal with Liberty Media would create a satellite-media juggernaut around Liberty's DirectTV Group Inc. and Sirius XM Radio.
Under the proposed agreement, Liberty would invest several hundred million dollars in Sirius XM in two stages and eventually control about half of the company, WSJ sources said.
The deal is more palatable than that of Charlie Ergen's - who had been seeking outright control in return for a roughly $500 million investment and an agreement to restructure about $400 million in Sirius XM's debt that he holds.
Negotiations still continue for the final details as we go into the 11th hour.
[Wall Street Journal]
And Mel will be gone within 90 days. They might say he's staying now to keep everyone calm, but he's gone and a slate of new execs will be put in place by Liberty.
Sorry Mel. You lose. Good day sir.
Ron & Fez, noon to 3.
No way Mel would be gone in 90 days. He has a contract with Sirius until the end of the year and then he may decide to move on, but he will never get let go with all the work he has to do to get a shit load more costs out and help reneg contracts, etc. There is nobody better for the position right now.
Here comes the dilution ...kiss half of your equity good-bye!
"White women...generally don't have sex with black men..."
I'm glad it's not a takeover.
John C. Malone is wasting his money, he can buy a turd, but it's still a turd and Melvin Alan "Mel" Karmazin is h h h HISTORY.
Do black guys really have bigger dongs than whites?
I have been a Sirius subscriber and investor for a few years now. I would hate to lose my favorite show, Jay Thomas. I love Howard Stern, too, and Jay ranks right up there with Howard. I hope Sirius XM survives.
Howard and Mel will continue to make millions per year for as long as they want. opie and fez failed on terrestrial and have a mere 5,000 listeners on SIRIUSxm. They NEED this deal.
When a book debuts at #14 on the NYT list, you know that you have very few listeners, despite being on two outlets.
When a book debuts at #1, despite being on only one outlet, the world pays attention.
Hence, the fight for who gets to have Howard working with them.
King > clones
Always has been, always will be.
To be able to hold onto any equity at all is awesome. Not sure where all you posters come from, but most of you post like you havent a clue.
HOWIE TO MEL WHATS IT GONNA BE:
DEAL OR NO DEAL
PUSH THE F***ING BUTTON THE LAST CASE IS BANCRUPCY
Mr. Karmazin and Mr. Zellner: Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
I dont care what other investors/media/A holes say about him, but he is the one who did the unthinkable by merging the only 2 satrad companies even though the media and the Government said it was a slim chance. He is close to bringing this company cash flow positive, frist time in History of SATRAD. I never stay this long in any stocks, I only got in because I saw Mel was the CEO. He was a gr8 CEO at Infinity broadcasting. If you look at his bio in Wikipedia, he is a good salesman and he has been known as a "Wall Street darling" for his ability to drive up the price of his various companies' stock. He is doing the same here with SIRI.....I trust you Mel and I know you will do what is best for SIRIUS and Investors. Best CEO ever!
I bet 30 days before that Ron and Fez will be out the door along with 0.0 O&A. Sorry you lose pest. Pests how dumb can you get. What are you 12?
If you bought this stock for any other reason than Mel, you have no clue what you are doing
Half of five cents, are you fucking kidding me. You quick buck folks should have learned by now. Think long term.
but Howard isn't funny.
I hope this matter can be fixed quickly and without any radio content from being cut.
I was reading Mel's blog page on www.theoandavirus.com, and he say's that everything should turn out great.
Let's all hope.
A sirius question:
Does Mel deserve his job ?
Serious comments appreciatd... -thanks
I hope this matter can be fixed quickly and without any radio content from being cut.
I was reading Mel's blog page on www.theoandavirus.com, and he say's that everything should turn out great.
Let's all hope.
Otherwise we will see alot of cancellations because of what happens and Sirius XM possibly tank it.
man what the fuck is going to be the solution everyday a fucking diferent shity ass story...mel suck a dick and i hope you fucking go to jail for all the fucking fruad you have done you fucking idiot........and yeah while your in jail i hope you drop the fucking soup and get it right up your mother fucking ass and let it out your fucking trought.........ass hole..
My thinking is, the deal will be accepted, and Mel, Zellner and the others will be allowed to stay on...for now. Over the course of their contracts, they will be eased out and a quieter, more seamless transition will be made. That said, I don't know how the programming changes.
well said mano
Things look a Hell of a lot better than they did a few days ago. For a minute there it looked like Kamikaze Karmazin was going to fly the airplane straight into NASDAQ headquarters.
That's a stupid comment. I bought this stock at 0.52 a year before Howard or Mel. I love satellite radio and still believe that Sirius 3 orbiting satellite produce an advantage to Xm's 4 stationary ones.
can't wait to here howard tomorrow to hear what he has to say about this...oh wait...sorrieee he is on holidays...again. I used to like howard but really there is no way of defending him anymore, he simply does not care.
As a OnA and R&F fan, I don't care what happeneds as long as my shows stay. Stern has his fans, as does OA, why does eithers fans care so much about the others? I kinda think OA and Howie are more concerned about their money and not a fan created radio war.
The operative statement:
"Under the proposed agreement, Liberty would invest several hundred million dollars in Sirius XM in two stages and eventually control about half of the company, WSJ sources said. "
So, after all is said and done, Liberty got the first half of the company for several hundred million. They'll undoubtedly get the second half for less than that.
They'll the the entire company for less than 2 Billion. XM *AND* Sirius.
I knew Mel was a dumbassed slick talking salesman all along. But it is really pathetic that Parsons & Panero put in several years of building a company and handed it over to this idiot to run for a fraction of its value. Karmazin has had it for a few short months and already has destroyed it.
While I'm complaining about these bastards, I'd also like to point out that the so-called "professional analysts" like Peck who urged XM to cave in the negotiations are just as big a slimeball as Mel, Parsons & the rest of them.
I've cleaned my post up considerably from what I REALLY think.
soup?
Sirius XM can't survive with all their debt. File bankrupcy already. It's all about Mel wanting to be in charge of his 'hobby' that is satellite radio. And he seems to be all about running the clock out so his B buddy Howard Stern gets all his money in his contract.
A company in this terrible a shape can't afford to pay 100 milion a year to a guy who works 4 days a week with 20 weeks off a year.
Sirius is 'printing' shares like crazy and gladly give away the equity of the company to anyone who'd take their funny money. Yeah wait until the stock is worthless to do that, instead of thinking ahead and now backing yourself in a corner.
Let Ergin buy the company, he'll probably shut down XM or Sirius and run the one satellite company. Then he'll use the spectrum from one of the satellite companies along with the other one way spectrum class e spectrum he won at 700 mhz auction and either create some wireless internet or a new video service for mobile devices.
Never mind the fact the subsidiary companies of Liberty Media are laying off people left and right. No, why use the cash to help his own people when he can waste it on a stupid thing like satellite radio. I hope you choke on your own vomit Mr Malone.