XM Takes on More Debt Refinancing Ahead of Merger (XMSR, SIRI)

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By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Published
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Xm_logo_2It has been known that mandatory debt refinancing was coming down the pipe for both XM Satellite Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: XMSR) and for Sirius Satellite Radio inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI).  We have now seen the pricing of some $778.5 million of new senior notes offered under a Rule 144A and Regulation S under the SEC rules.  This appears to be an increased offering from the $400 million previously discussed.

These notes will bear interest at an annual rate of 13% and the priceto investors will be 89.93% of the principal amount of the notes.  Thisgives an effective yield to maturity of about 16%. 

The gross proceeds from the raise are noted as $700,105,050 from thenotes being sold before deducting the initial purchasers’ discounts,commissions, and offering expenses.

The new notes will be guaranteed by XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.and is part of a series of transactions to refinance certain debt of XMin connection with the pending merger with SIRIUS Satellite Radio Inc.

To top it off, the offering is structured so that is can be unwound ifthe merger is not consummated. Based on most recent data the merger is believed to be approved, but is still as of 11:35 AM officially in the pending category. 

Jon C. Ogg
July 24, 2008

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About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.

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