spacetoday.net: Sirius denies merger negotiations with XM

Posted: Wed, Jan 26, 2005, 2:07 PM ET (1907 GMT)
The CEO of Sirius Satellite Radio denied a published report Wednesday that his company was in merger negotiations with its larger rival, XM Satellite Radio. The New York Post reported in its Wednesday edition that Sirius and XM officials were meeting to discuss a merger of the two companies. Financial details had not been discussed, according to the report, as the two companies instead focused on ways to mitigate potential antitrust issues, since the two are the only commercial satellite radio providers in the US. The article suggested that any deal between the two could take as long as a year to complete. However, Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin, speaking during a previously-scheduled earnings report conference call, denied that the two companies had held any such negotiations, and added that any merger of the two would be a "difficult deal" to complete. On Wednesday Sirius reported a wider loss than expected at $261.9 million, compared to $147.8 million for the same quarter a year ago. The company, which currently has 1.24 million subscribers, anticipates doubling that total by the end of the year.