Shareholders OK Sirius' deal to buy XM Satellite Radio for $5B

NEW YORK -- Shareholders of Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. on Tuesday approved the company's $5 billion acquisition of rival XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.

The approval, which was expected, now leaves the tougher obstacles of regulatory assent by the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission.

Sirius said in a statement that more than 96 percent of the shareholder votes cast approved the acquisition. The company said it still hopes to complete the deal by the end of the year.

Shareholder advisory firms had endorsed the deal, which would save costs for both companies on acquiring subscribers, programming and broadcasting.

The deal still faces close scrutiny by regulators in Washington, however, and some consumer groups have opposed the combination.

The FCC had originally said the two satellite radio companies couldn't combine, but that rule can be changed. Sirius and XM have argued that satellite radio now faces more competition for listeners since the boom in digital listening devices like Apple Inc.'s iPod, Internet radio and cell phones that can play music.

Sirius and XM have said that a combined company would offer listeners more pricing options and greater choice and flexibility in the channel lineups they receive.

Both Sirius and XM now offer packages of music, talk, sports and other programming for a fixed rate of $12.95 a month. Many of the music channels are commercial-free, and unlike terrestrial radio, the signals can be received anywhere in the U.S.

If the deal is approved, the companies have said they would offer pricing plans ranging from $6.99 per month, for 50 channels offered by one service, up to $16.99 a month, where subscribers would keep their existing service plus choose channels offered by the other service. It isn't possible now to pick channels one by one.

The deal calls for XM shareholders to receive 4.6 shares of Sirius for every share they own, which values XM at $16.15 a share or about $5 billion, based on current share prices.