Sirius CEO Optimistic XM Deal Could be Approved This Month

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 12, 2008 - 8:04am.

Washington - The head of Sirius Satellite Radio (NASD: SIRI) said on Wednesday that he is hopeful the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will rule on his company's proposed $4.2 billion merger with XM Satellite Radio (NASD: XMSR) by the end of this month, Reuters reported.

Speaking at a conference in New York, CEO Mel Karmazin also said that the long delay by federal regulators "has been interpreted ... as good news."

The companies initially had hoped to complete the deal by the end of 2007, but are awaiting rulings from the FCC and Justice Department.

Karmazin said that his company has been involved in active discussions with the FCC in recent weeks.

"Clearly if there was a big problem with the merger, it wouldn't take the (regulators) this long to figure it out," said Karmazin.

"Either you believe we compete with a whole bunch of audio choices or you think there's a distinct market called satellite radio."

He said that the deal could be completed immediately, once approvals were handed down.