|
SiriusXM to Acquire Pandora in $3.5 Billion Deal
SiriusXM will acquire Pandora in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $3.5 billion, the companies announced Monday morning. According to the announcement, the deal will create the world’s largest audio entertainment company, with more than $7 billion in expected revenue in 2018. It also moves SiriusXM and its parent company, Liberty Media, aggressively into the streaming market. In June of last year, after months of circling, SiriusXM struck a deal to invest $480 million Pandora. The cash purchase stock gave the satellite radio company a 19% stake in Pandora, and included a provision to curb SiriusXM’s ability to take over the entire company by limiting SiriusXM from acquiring more than 31.5% of Pandora without the approval of the Pandora board. The transaction has been unanimously approved by both the independent directors of Pandora and by the board of directors of SiriusXM, Monday’s announcement stated. In an interview at Goldman Sachs’ Communicopia conference earlier this month, Pandora CEO Roger Lynch gave no indication that the deal was in the works, saying only that since the purchase Liberty has been involved “on a board level and as an investor, they have not been involved at an operational level.” “This strategic transaction builds on SiriusXM’s position as the leader in subscription radio and a critically-acclaimed curator of exclusive audio programming with the addition of the largest U.S. audio streaming platform. Pandora’s powerful music platform will enable SiriusXM to significantly expand its presence beyond vehicles into the home and other mobile areas. Following the completion of the transaction, there will be no immediate change in listener offerings.” Further details will be announced in a conference call Monday morning. The combined company will drive long-term growth by: Capitalizing on cross-promotion opportunities between SiriusXM’s base of more than 36 million subscribers across North America and 23 million-plus annual trial listeners and Pandora’s more than 70 million monthly active users, which represents the largest digital audio audience in the U.S. Leveraging SiriusXM’s exclusive content and programming with Pandora’s ad-supported and subscription tiers to create unique audio packages, while also utilizing SiriusXM’s extensive automotive relationships to drive Pandora’s in-car distribution. Continuing investments in content, technology, innovation, and expanded monetization opportunities through both ad-supported and subscription services in and out of the vehicle. Supporting and strengthening Pandora’s highly relevant brand. Creating a promotional platform for emerging and established artists, curated and personalized in ways to deliver the most compelling audio experience that connects artists to their fan bases, as well as new listeners. Jim Meyer, Chief Executive Officer of SiriusXM, said, “We have long respected Pandora and their team for their popular consumer offering that has attracted a massive audience, and have been impressed by Pandora’s strategic progress and stronger execution. We believe there are significant opportunities to create value for both companies’ stockholders by combining our complementary businesses. The addition of Pandora diversifies SiriusXM’s revenue streams with the U.S.’s largest ad-supported audio offering, broadens our technical capabilities, and represents an exciting next step in our efforts to expand our reach out of the car even further. Through targeted investments, we see significant opportunities to drive innovation that will accelerate growth beyond what would be available to the separate companies, and does so in a way that also benefits consumers, artists, and the broader content communities. Together, we will deliver even more of the best content on radio to our passionate and loyal listeners, and attract new listeners, across our two platforms.” Roger Lynch, Chief Executive Officer of Pandora, said, “We’ve made tremendous progress in our efforts to lead in digital audio. Together with SiriusXM, we’re even better positioned to take advantage of the huge opportunities we see in audio entertainment, including growing our advertising business and expanding our subscription offerings. The powerful combination of SiriusXM’s content, position in the car, and premium subscription products, along with the biggest audio streaming service in the U.S., will create the world’s largest audio entertainment company. This transaction will deliver significant value to our stockholders and will allow them to participate in upside, given SiriusXM’s strong brand, financial resources and track record delivering results.” According to the announcement, the owners of the outstanding shares in Pandora that SiriusXM does not currently own will receive a fixed exchange ratio of 1.44 newly issued SiriusXM shares for each share of Pandora they hold. Based on the 30-day volume-weighted average price of $7.04 per share of SiriusXM common stock, the implied price of Pandora common stock is $10.14 per share, representing a premium of 13.8% over a 30-day volume-weighted average price. The transaction is expected to be tax-free to Pandora stockholders. SiriusXM currently owns convertible preferred stock in Pandora that represents a stake of approximately 15% on an as-converted basis. |
Re: SiriusXM to Acquire Pandora in $3.5 Billion Deal
My problem with Pandora is that it would stop playing after awhile(this is with their bottom of the barrel pay service) and ask me if I was still listening. I usually had it playing through out my house so I wasn't next too my computer. That's why I dropped their service(plus too many repeat songs day after day).
Someone in another thread was mentioning that a lot of the pay music services(excluding the major players) only have band's greatest hit's song's so it's very rare too hear anything else from the respective groups. |
Re: SiriusXM to Acquire Pandora in $3.5 Billion Deal
Originally Posted by dvd-4-life
(Post 13413149)
Someone in another thread was mentioning that a lot of the pay music services(excluding the major players) only have band's greatest hit's song's so it's very rare too hear anything else from the respective groups.
|
Re: SiriusXM to Acquire Pandora in $3.5 Billion Deal
The repetitiveness of Sirius/XM is what finally caused me to get rid of them. I also couldn't justify paying for over 100 channels when I only listened to maybe 20 (and of course a-la-carte was only available to the aftermarket add on modules, and not integrated units). And, while I like Pandora for full album listening, I too hate the timed "are you listening" prompts. Have to wait until I'm stopped to pull the phone out of the center console and click through it.
|
Re: SiriusXM to Acquire Pandora in $3.5 Billion Deal
If you pay for Pandora's service(no matter what the service) then it should play morning ,noon and night because they already have your money.
|
Re: SiriusXM to Acquire Pandora in $3.5 Billion Deal
Is Sirius really that limited? I don't have it myself, but I've roadtripped with some friends that did and I was impressed with the variety. There was one "classic rock deep cuts" channel that played many bands I was familiar with, but songs I'd never heard before.
|
Re: SiriusXM to Acquire Pandora in $3.5 Billion Deal
They're like cable. A lot of the same shit with multiple channels. I have it. I like it. But sometimes having to pass through 10 country stations is a bit much especially when they all play the same thing.
|
Re: SiriusXM to Acquire Pandora in $3.5 Billion Deal
I have sirius myself. IT's definitely not as good as it can be.
My main gripes include, still having commercials on the talk/comedy channels. Majority of channels play the singles. TO me it defeats the purpose to have all these options, yet we are still only playing singles 80% of the time. I truly wish on every channel, they would throw in non-single tracks that have been deemed great by fans/listeners. That aside, it's convenient and I'm confident most of us if we started at channel 1 and worked our way up, we would find something we enjoy. Secret to keeping costs down. Call up and threaten to cancel. They will sweeten the deal until you say yes. I have the all access package that includes every channel and the ap. They did some promo like 3 years ago where it was only $10 a month for a lmited time. Well, when that limited time was up I called and said I wanted to cancel. They send you to usually some indian call center and they will throw out offers, but it always comes back to the same promo price you got. Sometimes they just don't bullshit and hook you up immediatley or sometimes you have to say "sorry that's still too much, I can't afford it" and they'll lower it. I have no idea what the ultimate all access package is supposed to cost, but for $10 a month, I think that's a fair deal and until they matching that offer, I'll likely keep it until it's over. I'm curious how they use pandora or work it into the service or try to make combo packages. |
Re: SiriusXM to Acquire Pandora in $3.5 Billion Deal
I went to their website and they are offering streaming for 6 months for 30 dollars.
What's the price afterwards? Years ago I was almost paying 20 dollars a month for streaming and it didn't have any sports. Now I think they are offering sports which isn't a biggie since TuneIn has just about everything. |
Re: SiriusXM to Acquire Pandora in $3.5 Billion Deal
Originally Posted by dvd-4-life
(Post 13420253)
I went to their website and they are offering streaming for 6 months for 30 dollars.
What's the price afterwards? |
Re: SiriusXM to Acquire Pandora in $3.5 Billion Deal
My bill is $25 per month with all channels and the online service.
|
Re: SiriusXM to Acquire Pandora in $3.5 Billion Deal
Sirius XM is just like cable TV. I always get a bill for $200+ for a year, but call and threaten to cancel and they give me a deal.
I'm usually paying about $70/year with their promos they give me. I spend a lot of time in the car, especially going to work, so I like having it. But, I do wish there was less chit chat with the DJ's on the stations I listen to. Pandora I currently have as a 1 year free Pandora Plus promo that T-Mobile gave out about a month ago. I wouldn't have subscribed otherwise. |
Re: SiriusXM to Acquire Pandora in $3.5 Billion Deal
Originally Posted by Paff
(Post 13419284)
Is Sirius really that limited? I don't have it myself, but I've roadtripped with some friends that did and I was impressed with the variety. There was one "classic rock deep cuts" channel that played many bands I was familiar with, but songs I'd never heard before.
|
Re: SiriusXM to Acquire Pandora in $3.5 Billion Deal
XM used to have very deep playlists when they first came out. Their decades stations would play songs that didn't even chart on the top 40. Then they merged with Sirius and their stations became repetitive and would only play the big hits. No more deep playlists. I use Slacker radio which is not as deep as the original XM but the closest I have found.
|
Re: SiriusXM to Acquire Pandora in $3.5 Billion Deal
Sirius is great for those who are big sports fans. Aside from a few Rock stations, I listen to Howard Stern. Once he leaves Sirius so will I.
|
| All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:40 AM. |
Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.