Report: Dept. Of Justice To OK Sirius/XM Merger

ORBITCAST.COM reports that a note sent by the WALL STREET analyst firm COWEN & COMPANY asserts that THOMAS BARNETT, Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice Antitrust Division, will approve the SIRIUS-XM merger in the coming days.

Ironically, BARNETT's approval is contrary to the staff recommendation against the merger. However, such a move is not unprecedented. In 2006, the Antitrust Chief at the time signed off on the Whirlpool-Maytag merger in spite the wishes of the DOJ staff, which reportedly wanted to block the deal.

Even though no official announcement has been made, the reports have sent the price of SIRIUS and XM up almost 6% today, contraray to a somewhat soft market environment.

Although the SIRIUS/XM merger must also be approved by the FCC, getting the Dept. of Justice's approval was seen by many as the tougher challenge.

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