Suspense grows over XM-Sirius antitrust review

By Peter Kaplan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. government antitrust lawyers have spent nearly 10 months so far investigating Sirius Satellite Radio Inc's (SIRI.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) plan to acquire rival XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc XMSR.O, despite company hopes that the deal would be approved by the end of 2007.

The delay may be due to the complexity of the issues raised by the merger of the only two U.S. satellite radio companies -- or because the Department of Justice (DOJ) is putting together a case to block the deal in federal court, analysts at Stifel Nicolaus said in a research note on Thursday.

Alternatively, top officials at DOJ may be leaning toward approval but might still be weighing arguments from staffers who oppose the deal, Stifel Nicolaus said.

"Like many others, we believed it was likely that the DOJ would have reached a decision before the winter holidays," Stifel Nicolaus said.

Washington, D.C., antitrust lawyer Andre Barlow, of the firm Doyle, Barlow & Mazard, said some analysts may have underestimated the complexity of the investigation.

"It certainly wasn't as imminent as (some) projected," Barlow said, referring to previous rumors that the government was about to make a decision.

Asked by Reuters about the ongoing review, Sirius and XM issued a joint statement saying: "As the companies said from the outset, we expected to complete the processes at DOJ and the FCC so that the regulators could make their decisions and the merger could close by the end of 2007. We have fully complied with the requests from both agencies. The ball is now in their court and we look forward to their determinations."

A key antitrust issue in the case is whether the combined satellite radio company would still face enough competition from free, over-the-air radio and new technologies.