Liberty Media Gets Sirius

摘要

With $172m of debt due on February 17th and no cash to pay it, Mel Karma-zin, the boss of Sirius xm, America's sole satellite-radio operator, faced an unpalatable choice: declare bankruptcy or be taken over by an old adversary, Charles Ergen of dish Network, a satellite-television provider. However, at the last minute, Mr Kar-mazin rustled up another deal, which grants his heavily indebted firm a reprieve. John Malone's Liberty Media, which controls DirecTV, Mr Ergen's arch-rival in the satellite-television business, will lend Sirius xm up to $53om in several stages, afterrnwhich it will receive a 40% stake. But Sirius xm is not just another firm caught out by the near-impossibility of rolling over big debts in the midst of the credit crunch: it faces even bigger worries.