Sirius Rolls Out New 24 Hour Investor Keening Channel
by John Paczkowski
Posted on February 9, 2009 at 9:50 AM PT
Apparently satellite mogul Charlie Ergen’s run at Sirius XM has been in the works for quite some time. Indeed, “people familiar with the situation” tell The Wall Street Journal that Ergen made an offer late last year to take control of struggling satellite radio outfit, but was rebuffed. His proposal: that one of his two satellite companies, EchoStar (SATS) or Dish Network (DISH), supply Sirius with enough capital to meet its debt obligations and avoid a bankruptcy filing. Clearly, then, Ergen isn’t looking to force Sirius into bankruptcy in order to claim its assets on the cheap, but rather because he sees it as a natural complement to his television operations.
Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin obviously doesn’t share that view, though he may soon come round.
With just a week or so left until its first round of debt obligations come due, Sirius (SIRI) is in a tight spot. As Karmazin told investors last week, the company needs to raise $175 million, and quickly. If it can’t, it will end up either filing for bankruptcy or cutting a deal with Ergen. Given that Karmazin himself invested $2.7 million in Sirius stock last summer, Karmazin may well opt for the latter. Unless, of course, another potential investor–say AT&T (T) or Liberty Media (LINTA)–comes sniffing around. Either way, it’s going to be a volatile and stressful week for Sirius investors.
Comments
Good Luck Mel! You’ll need it. As a lover of Sirius product and a stock holder you can imagine my frustration when I called Sirius Friday to inquire about extending my account and your customer service people recommended that I cancel, and issued a refund on my newly renewed 1 year sub!
Posted by olivia rieley at February 9th, 2009 at 9:58 amBRAVO! Are you guys on the same page?
Michael, bonds are available on the open market. You should be asking Mr. Ergen why he has not filed papers with his companies, how he is investing their money.
Posted by Jeff Stevens at February 9th, 2009 at 12:32 pmJust read the news link in which the NY Times reports regarding the proposed bankruptcy by Sirius. After being a faithful stock holder for over 2 years LONG @ 50000+ shares cost average around a buck fifty. I just would like to ask you HOW could this story LEAK before the share holders like myself are notified by an official statement from SIRIUS. Please explain this to me. Especially now that I just about lost my entire investment. Thank Mel for destroying my family. I have finally lost my faith in Sirius. Bankruptcy is a huge FU to all the people like myself who have invested huge sums of money into this company only to have an overpaid staff who basically are stealing our investments by the blatant mismanagement of this corporation
Posted by Jo Perone at February 10th, 2009 at 5:29 pm