SiriusXM Closes On Pandora Acquisition
• Sirius XM Holdings Inc. announced that it has formally closed on its acquisition of Pandora Media, Inc. With the deal now complete, SiriusXM now claims the title of “the world’s largest audio entertainment company with strong, long-term growth opportunities.”
The newly combined company is now under the command of Jim Meyer, Chief Executive Officer of SiriusXM, who said, “This is a tremendous outcome for two organizations with complementary platforms and large audiences, and we could not be more excited to be moving forward as one company. With SiriusXM’s subscription-based national service of curated and exclusive content and programming, and Pandora, the largest U.S. streaming music provider with its highly personalized free ad-supported service, under one roof, SiriusXM now reaches more than 100 million people across its audio products. That is a powerful platform for consumers, content creators and advertisers.”
Meyer continued, “Importantly, the premier products that SiriusXM and Pandora listeners have enjoyed for years are not changing. That said, good things come from being together, and we look forward to creating new unique audio packages that combine our strengths and offer an even wider range of content to our listeners. On behalf of everyone at SiriusXM, we are excited to officially welcome the talented Pandora team and look forward to working with all of our employees to continue delivering the best audio entertainment experience in the world and creating enhanced value for stockholders.”
As was previously announced, Pandora CEO Roger Lynch, General Counsel Steve Bene, CFO Naveen Chopra and Chief Human Resources Officer Kristen Robinson have left the building. The outstanding shares in Pandora not already owned by SiriusXM will be exchanged for a fixed ratio of 1.44 newly issued SiriusXM shares. Shares of Pandora’s common stock are no longer trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
