(Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission gave Liberty Media Corp the green light to take control of satellite radio company, Sirius XM Radio Inc, Liberty said on Thursday. <\/p>\n
The company said it expects to complete the transfer of control within 60 days. <\/p>\n
Liberty, which is Sirius' largest shareholder, filed with the FCC in August requesting control. <\/p>\n
The company has effectively been acting as Sirius' owner over the past several months, choosing new interim Chief Executive Jim Meyer and initiating a stock buy back program and special dividend. <\/p>\n
Liberty wanted control of Sirius because it believed Mel Karmazin, who left as CEO of Sirius in December, did not adapt quickly enough to changing technologies. <\/p>\n
Currently Liberty holds a 49.8 percent stake in Sirius. <\/p>\n
Liberty acquired its initial share in Sirius in 2009 as part of deal in which it loaned the satellite radio service $530 million. <\/p>\n
While it has been increasing its ownership of Sirius, the bulk of its stake is in the preferred shares it acquired in the 2009 transaction. <\/p>\n
Liberty plans to convert the preferred shares into common stock, but was waiting for FCC approval before making the move that would push its ownership above 50 percent. <\/p>\n
(Reporting By Jennifer Saba in New York; editing by Carol Bishopric) <\/p>\n
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Liberty Media gets nod from FCC to take control of Sirius XM<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission gave Liberty Media Corp the green light to take control of satellite radio company, Sirius XM Radio Inc, Liberty said on Thursday. Continue reading