Mel Karmazin and Sirius XM radio

The merger (actually, buyout) of XM Radio with Sirius Radio is now complete.

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. completed its purchase of XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. in an all-stock takeover valued at $2.76 billion. The shares dropped on investor concern over new stock and debt offerings.The company will change its name to Sirius XM Radio Inc. and continue to be led by Sirius Chief Executive Mel Karmazin.

Existing radios will continue to work and subscribers may keep their current service package, Sirius said Tuesday. The combined company also will sell new programming packages that offer selections from both services and that give consumers the choice of which channels they receive.

I don't have satellite radio, having held off because precisely because of the fact that there were two competing networks. Guess I don't have an excuse any longer, but for me it would be entirely a "luxury" purchase, since I don't travel enough to justify the cost, really.

The WSJ offers some background info on how the buyout got approved.