SiriusXM Serious About Pandora?
The New York Post reports that SiriusXM is in active discussions about making a bid for Internet radio company Pandora. The satellite radio company, controlled by Liberty Media has exhibited a sporatic interest in the struggling streamer and recently restarted talks with Pandora’s banks to discuss the size of a potential offer. Sources tell the Post there has been no agreement yet on a price, but one optimistic industry insider believes a bid could range as high as $12 to $13 a share. That price tag was immediately shot down by sources familiar with talks.
Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei has previously said he believes Pandora is worth $10 per share. Shares of Pandora had dropped 4.5 percent on Wednesday, closing at $8.93, but, as Business Insider reports, strongly rebounded after the Post story hit, jumping up to $9.43.
Pandora CEO Tim Westergren had hoped to continue to run the company as a standalone, but two activist investors — Matrix and Corvex — have been pushing to pursue a sale. On May 9 Pandora inked a deal with private equity firm KKR on a $150 million investment. Terms of the investment have it closing in no less than 30 days. There has been chatter that Pandora will look to sell itself within that time frame. Pandora has been working with Morgan Stanley and Centerview to consider potential offers.
