XM and Sirius satellite radio complete merger in U.S.

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XM Satellite Radio has wanted to merge with Sirius Satellite Radio for quite some time now, but regulation and approvals from U.S. officials held up the merger.

Finally, the companies received federal approval and merged today, according to AP.

The combined company plans to use the name Sirius XM Radio, Inc., and its stock will continue to be traded on NASDAQ under Sirius' previous stock symbol SIRI.

Under the agreement, XM shareholders will receive 4.6 shares of Sirius stock for every share of XM they own.

As AP reports:

It expects cost savings of about $400 million in 2009 and to post earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of more than $300 million. It also plans to achieve positive cash flow, before satellite capital expenditures, in 2009.

The new company will have 18.5 million subscribers.

The new corporate headquarters will be located in New York but the satellite radio station will remain headquartered in XM’s Washington D.C. location.

In my opinion, this is great news for sports fans, because not all sports channels were available on both satellite radio stations in the past. In some cases, customers had to subscribe to both stations to get all the different sports.

Now, consumers can subscribe to just one service and listen to their favorite sports teams. Some are now concerned about the potential for a monopoly this merger creates, as there is no competition for Sirius XM.