More XM/Sirius DOJ Rumors

Seeking Alpha a stock opinion and analysis web site has yet another article speculating about when the DOJ will announce whether the XM/Sirius merger is a go or not. It seems every week the speculation meter starts to rise only to be back at zero by weeks end. What I found interesting about this article is that it chronicles all of the possible stipulations that Justice might impose on the merged company as a condition of approval.

As you read through the list see if you can identify which interested parties might have requested some of the stipulations. If I had a prize closet I would award a prize.

• offer a smaller package at a monthly price lower than the current basic package, with additional channels being offered on an à la carte basis, similar to what the companies agreed to do in the spring, with the final details to be negotiated;
• move all “indecent” programming from the basic package to à la carte offerings;
• freeze prices for some period of time;
• assure that the radios currently being used by subscribers continue to receive the satellite signals;
• provide some minimum amount of public interest programming;
• address exclusive deals for content or equipment in some way;
• make interoperable radios (that work on both XM and Sirius systems) commercially available by a date certain; and
• make the satellite radios interoperable with HD (High Definition) radio.

Any way, the gist of the article was to point out that the rumors of a decision
were starting to percolate again. We'll see.

DOJ Approves Clear Channel Deal

From Reuters:

Reuters U.S. Company News
5:22 p.m. 02/13/2008


WASHINGTON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - U.S. antitrust authorities said on Wednesday they had conditionally approved the proposed buyout of U.S. radio operator Clear Channel Communications Inc (CCU) by two private equity firms.

The Justice Department said it would not oppose the acquisition of San Antonio, Texas-based Clear Channel by private equity firms Bain Capital Partners and Thomas H. Lee Partners, as long as Clear Channel divested radio stations in four U.S. cities. (Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)


From Dow Jones News Service:

Dow Jones Real-Time News for InvestorsSM
5:29 p.m. 02/13/2008



By Corey Boles and Shira Ovide
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The U.S. Department of Justice said Wednesday it would require radio station company Clear Channel Communications Inc. (CCU) to sell stations in four cities in order to win approval for its sale to two private-equity houses.

In a statement, the Department of Justice's antitrust division said it would approve the deal taking the nation's largest owner of radio stations private once the divestitures were complete.

Clear Channel is being bought by Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners, two private-equity firms, in a complicated $19.5 billion transaction.

The Department of Justice approval is the last regulatory hurdle to the Clear Channel sale being concluded. It earlier won conditional approval from the Federal Communications Commission, again with the obligation to sell some stations first.

The four markets where the Department of Justice said Clear Channel must sell stations are Cincinnati, Houston, Las Vegas and San Francisco.

"Without the divestitures obtained by the department, advertisers that rely on radio advertising in the affected cities likely would have faced higher prices," said Thomas O. Barnett, assistant attorney general in charge of the department's antitrust division. "The divestitures will ensure that advertisers will continue to receive the benefits of competition."