Shares of Liberty Media Corp.’s Liberty Sirius XM tracking stock
LSXMA,
shot up 11.6% in premarket trading, while Sirius XM Holdings Inc.’s stock
SIRI,
slid 4.5% toward a three-month low, after Liberty Media said it proposed that the two stocks combine to form a new public company named New SiriusXM. Under terms of the proposed deal, Liberty would separate LSXM into a newly formed subsidiary of Liberty, with holders of each series of LSXM common stock receiving shares of a single series of shares based on each underlying share of SiriusXM common stock held by the new subsidiary being exchanged for 1.05 shares of common stock of New SiriusXM. The new subsidiary would then combine with SiriusXM to form New SiriusXM. “Liberty’s proposal rationalizes the dual corporate structure between LSXM and SiriusXM and provides value to all shareholders with a more flexible and attractive currency in New SiriusXM,” said Liberty Chief Executive Greg Maffei. “SiriusXM minority shareholders will also benefit from enhanced trading dynamics, including increased liquidity and likelihood of future index inclusion.” LSXM’s stock has shed 21.6% year to date through Monday and SiriusXM shares have dropped 31.3%, while the S&P 500
SPX,
has gained 13.0%.
