In a somewhat shocking development — well shocking to me — XM and SIRIUS have decided to throw competition out the window and merge as a powerful satellite radio megaton robot. From the press release detailing the agreement:
XM Satellite Radio (Nasdaq: XMSR) and SIRIUS Satellite Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement, under which the companies will be combined in a tax-free, all-stock merger of equals with a combined enterprise value of approximately $13 billion, which includes net debt of approximately $1.6 billion.
Under the terms of the agreement, XM shareholders will receive a fixed exchange ratio of 4.6 shares of SIRIUS common stock for each share of XM they own. XM and SIRIUS shareholders will each own approximately 50 percent of the combined company.
Mel Karmazin, currently Chief Executive Officer of SIRIUS, will become Chief Executive Officer of the combined company and Gary Parsons, currently Chairman of XM, will become Chairman of the combined company. The new company’s board of directors will consist of 12 directors, including Messrs. Karmazin and Parsons, four independent members designated by each company, as well as one representative from each of General Motors and American Honda. Hugh Panero, the Chief Executive Officer of XM, will continue in his current role until the anticipated close of the merger.
Booyakasha. Another win for Howard Stern? I guess XM figured if you can’t beat em, join em.
Keyboards aren’t just for typing and locating pron, no, they’re for beating the crap out of annoying co-workers as well. Case in point: this video. Check out this high-strung dude who goes a bit mental on his office mate.
I guess it’s sort of a guilty pleasure for me, but I actually like those Mac vs PC ads they run here in the U.S. I know I’m not supposed to and I’m too cool to even consider it, but I find it funny. Well, now I’ve decided I like the Japanese version even better. Nevermind the fact that I don’t know Japanese, there’s just a certain charm and whatnot that crosses those linguistic borders.
I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking cause I’m a cracka that this is a racial thing. Well, it ain’t. I may be the only person on the planet, but I happen to love my Zune and today, I actually had to give my black one back to Microsoft (I had it on loan for a month or so). When I saw that I had to send it back today, I was saddened … greatly. Well, thanks to the large amounts of gold I found in Vegas a couple weeks ago, I just went ahead and actually spent my own money on the damn thing.
Since I had the black one before, I decided to give white a spin. And you know what? It’s HOT! Now I hear brown is da shit (no pun intended), but white is pretty damn slick. Why am I writing this? Well, I just wanted to let y’all know where I stand on the Zune and if you’re thinking of picking one up, I suggest you go for white. I hear it brings all the girls to the yard.
So, besides the boring white guys, the Windows Vista launch event yesterday included a concert by Angels and Airwaves (one of my favorite bands, actually). Here’s the full concert, more or less — my camera’s battery went out on me near the end. Enjoy!
Want to know what yesterday’s Windows Vista press event was like in NYC’s Times Square? Well, hopefully this little tour will give you some kind of idea. There was plenty of great free food and of course the all-important free booze.
