Sirius-XM Merger Gets Antitrust Approval

By Geoff Duncan
March 24, 2008

Sirius Satellite Radio's proposed $4.6 billion purchase of competitor XM Satellite Radio has been approved by the Justice Department.

The U.S. Justice Department has cleared the way for satellite radio operators Sirius and XM to merge into a single company. It might be tough to see how allowing a market to drop from two providers to one somehow is a good thing for consumer competition, but the Justice Department has found that a combined Sirius-XM would face plenty of competition from everything from mobile phone providers to Internet-based services.

"After a careful and thorough review of the proposed transaction, the Division concluded that the evidence does not demonstrate that the proposed merger of XM and Sirius is likely to substantially lessen competition, and that the transaction therefore is not likely to harm consumers," the Justice Department's antitrust division wrote in a statement.

The merger must still be approved ...

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