Nearly a year and a half after first announcing plans to merge, Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. finally received FCC approval for their Plan and Agreement of Merger. The FCC approved the two companies Plan by a 3-2 margin, with commissioner Deborah Tate casting the final and deciding vote. In a statement released today, Ms. Tate called for the companies to pay fines for previous violations. Ms. Tate also said that she ultimately approved his merger because she believes terrestrial radio will not only survive a monopoly in Satellite Radio, but will flourish, and that competition from satellite radio will challenge local broadcasters to deliver the type of high-quality, local product they have delivered for the last hundred years.

Sirius and XM also announced the name of the new company. The combined, merged entity will be called Sirius XM Radio, Inc., and will be traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol SIRI.

This FCC approval completes a process that started formally with the announcement of the merger on February 19, 2007, and sheds light on how critical the “Conditions” provision is to all Merger Agreements. Almost every Plan and Agreement of Merger contains a “Conditions” provision stating that the Plan is subject to both shareholder and regulatory approval. Here, regulatory approval meant the approval of both the Department of Justice Antitrust Division and the Federal Communications Commission.

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