Sirius/XM Rise After Lawmakers Lend Support to Merger

Shares of Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI) and XM Satellite Radio (XMSR) recorded solid gains Thursday after the companies announced three U.S. lawmakers have publicly supported their proposed merger. On Wednesday, both companies' shares tumbled after it was reported two congressman had written a letter to the Department of Justice stating they were not in approval of the merger being rushed. The news brought into question whether the two satellite radio providers would be able to garner the support needed in Washington to get the necessary approval from the Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission. However on Thursday Sirius and XM said representatives Joe Baca of California, Bob Filner of California, and Connie Mack of Florida had all expressed that they were in favor of the deal. Stifel Nicolaus analyst Blair Levin also said the letter from two congressmen will not stop the deal from being approved in the near future: "We continue to believe it is more likely than not that the Department of Justice will clear the deal, and that if it does, the Federal Communications Commission will follow suit, albeit with conditions… A Department of Justice decision could come any day."

Ahead of the any decision by Department of Justice, many speculators have placed a bet that the merger will go through. In the last ten trading days, about 76,000 calls have traded on the ISE compared to just 4,000 puts, a surprising put/call ratio of 18.9. Shares of Sirius traded 3.6% higher to $3.41, while XM climbed 5.9% to finish at $13.99.

Sources: Press release, Reuters, Schaeffers Research, Forbes

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