The Department of Justice has approved the XM-Sirius merger.
After more than a year of deliberation, and examining reams of documents, the DOJ said in its decision today it decided “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 DOJ continued, “The division reached this conclusion because the evidence did not show that the merger would enable the parties to profitably increase prices to satellite radio customers for several reasons, including: a lack of competition between the parties in important segments even without the merger; the competitive alternative services available to consumers; technological change that is expected to make those alternatives increasingly attractive over time; and efficiencies likely to flow from the transaction that could benefit consumers.”
The FCC has yet to release its decision.
