Liberty Media Closes Investment in SIRIUS XM Radio
07 March 2009 - 4:46AM
PR Newswire (US)
SIRIUS XM and Lenders Agree to Extend Outstanding Loans Due in May
NEW YORK, March 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SIRIUS XM Radio Inc.
(NASDAQ: SIRI) and Liberty Media Corporation
(NASDAQ:LINTANASDAQ:LINTBNASDAQ:LCAPANASDAQ:LCAPBNASDAQ:
LMDIANASDAQ:LMDIB) today announced the closing of the second, and
final, phase of the previously announced investment by Liberty in
SIRIUS XM. Mel Karmazin, Chief Executive Officer of SIRIUS XM
Radio, said, "We are excited to have closed the second and final
phase of our investment agreement with Liberty Media. It is an
example of the confidence our lenders and Liberty have in our
business model. These transactions resolve all of the uncertainty
surrounding the company's and its subsidiaries' debt maturing in
2009. Having addressed our near-term financial obligations, we
remain focused on continuing to deliver on all the promise of the
merger of SIRIUS and XM -- a more efficient company offering the
best programming through new packages to more subscribers." "We are
pleased to have completed the second phase of this investment,"
said Greg Maffei, president and CEO of Liberty. "This closing
allows Liberty to align itself with one of the most exciting
companies in media today." SIRIUS XM also announced that XM
Satellite Radio, a wholly owned subsidiary of SIRIUS XM, amended
and extended its existing $350 million credit facilities. XM
Satellite Radio's existing term loan and revolving loan have been
rolled into a single term loan facility. As previously agreed,
Liberty has purchased $100 million aggregate principal amount from
the lenders. Liberty has committed to loan an additional $150
million to XM Satellite Radio, to be used to repay a portion of the
outstanding principal amount of 10% Convertible Notes due December
1, 2009 of XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. Under the existing
terms of their agreement, SIRIUS XM has issued Liberty an aggregate
of 12.5 million shares of new preferred stock convertible into 40%
of the common stock of SIRIUS XM. J.P. Morgan Securities acted as
financial advisor to SIRIUS XM in connection with the transactions.
UBS and Lazard Freres & Co. LLC acted as financial advisor to
Liberty Media Corporation. Important additional information
regarding this investment and the terms of the amended credit
facilities will be available in a Current Report on Form 8-K which
SIRIUS XM expects to file with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. About SIRIUS XM Radio SIRIUS XM Radio is America's
satellite radio company delivering commercial-free music channels,
premier sports, news, talk, entertainment, traffic and weather, to
more than 18.9 million subscribers. SIRIUS XM Radio has content
relationships with an array of personalities and artists, including
Howard Stern, Martha Stewart, Oprah Winfrey, Jimmy Buffett, Jamie
Foxx, Barbara Walters, Opie & Anthony, Bubba the Love
Sponge(R), The Grateful Dead, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty,
and Bob Edwards. SIRIUS XM Radio is the leader in sports
programming as the Official Satellite Radio Partner of the NFL,
Major League Baseball(R), NASCAR(R), NBA, NHL(R), and PGA TOUR(R),
and broadcasts major college sports. SIRIUS XM Radio has
arrangements with every major automaker. SIRIUS XM Radio products
are available at shop.sirius.com and shop.xmradio.com, and at
retail locations nationwide, including Best Buy, RadioShack,
Target, Sam's Club, and Wal-Mart. SIRIUS XM Radio also offers
SIRIUS Backseat TV, the first ever live in-vehicle rear seat
entertainment featuring Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and Cartoon
Network; XM NavTraffic(R) service for GPS navigation systems
delivers real-time traffic information, including accidents and
road construction, for more than 80 North American markets. About
Liberty Media Corporation Liberty Media Corporation owns interests
in electronic retailing, media, communications and entertainment
businesses. Those interests are attributed to three tracking stock
groups: (1) the Liberty Interactive group, which includes Liberty's
interests in QVC, Provide Commerce, Backcountry.com, BUYSEASONS,
Bodybuilding.com, IAC/InterActiveCorp, and Expedia, (2) the Liberty
Entertainment group, which includes Liberty's interests in The
DIRECTV Group, Inc., Starz Entertainment, FUN Technologies, Inc.,
GSN, LLC, WildBlue Communications, Inc., and Liberty Sports
Holdings LLC, and (3) the Liberty Capital group, which includes all
businesses, assets and liabilities not attributed to the
Interactive group or the Entertainment group including its
subsidiaries Starz Media, LLC, Atlanta National League Baseball
Club, Inc., and TruePosition, Inc., and minority equity investments
in Time Warner Inc. and Sprint Nextel Corporation. This
communication contains "forward-looking statements" within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements about
the benefits of the business combination transaction involving
SIRIUS and XM, including potential synergies and cost savings and
the timing thereof, future financial and operating results, the
combined company's plans, objectives, expectations and intentions
with respect to future operations, products and services; and other
statements identified by words such as "anticipate," "believe,"
"plan," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "will," "should," "may," or
words of similar meaning. Such forward-looking statements are based
upon the current beliefs and expectations of SIRIUS' and XM's
management and are inherently subject to significant business,
economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of
which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of
SIRIUS and XM. Actual results may differ materially from the
results anticipated in these forward-looking statements. The
following factors, among others, could cause actual results to
differ materially from the anticipated results or other
expectations expressed in the forward-looking statement: general
business and economic conditions; the performance of financial
markets and interest rates; the failure to realize synergies and
cost-savings from the merger or delay in realization thereof; the
businesses of SIRIUS and XM may not be combined successfully, or
such combination may take longer, be more difficult, time-consuming
or costly to accomplish than expected. Additional factors that
could cause SIRIUS' and XM's results to differ materially from
those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in
SIRIUS' and XM's Annual Reports on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2007 and their respective Quarterly Reports on Form
10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2008, which are filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and available at
the SEC's Internet site (http://www.sec.gov/). The information set
forth herein speaks only as of the date hereof, and SIRIUS and XM
disclaim any intention or obligation to update any forward looking
statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of
this communication. G-SIRI Contacts for SIRIUS XM Radio: Media
Relations Investor Relations Patrick Reilly Paul Blalock
212-901-6646 212-584-5174 Kelly Sullivan Hooper Stevens Joele
Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher 212-901-6718 212-355-4449 Contact
for Liberty Media: Courtnee Ulrich 720-875-5420 DATASOURCE: SIRIUS
XM Radio; Liberty Media Corporation CONTACT: For SIRIUS XM Radio:
Media Relations, Patrick Reilly, +1-212-901-6646, ; or Kelly
Sullivan of Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher,
+1-212-355-4449, , or Investor Relations, Paul Blalock,
+1-212-584-5174, , or Hooper Stevens, +1-212-901-6718, ; or For
Liberty Media: Courtnee Ulrich, +1-720-875-5420
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