Pandora has a new listener, and its future may depend on it Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images for Pandora Michael Angelakos from Passion Pit performs at the Lexus Pop Up Concert Series Powered By Pandora at The Temple House on July 21, 2016 in Miami. On Friday, Pandora reached a deal to sell a 19 percent stake in the Oakland internet radio company to Sirius XM for $480 million. ByREX CRUM|rcrum@bayareanewsgroup.com| Bay Area News Group PUBLISHED:June 9, 2017 at 2:59 pm| UPDATED:June 10, 2017 at 3:05 am OAKLAND — Pandora on Friday put an end to more than a year of speculation about whether the internet-radio company would sell itself or remain independent, by taking on a $480 million investment from satellite-radio pioneer Sirius XM. But while Pandora will remain a standalone company, Sirius’ investment ensures that it will have a big say in what Pandora’s future looks like. The Sirius investment amounts to that company acquiring 19 percent of Pandora and immediately becoming Pandora’s largest shareholder. As part of the investment, Sirius will get three new seats on Pandora’s board of directors, with one of those Sirius officials becoming chairman of Pandora’s board. The Sirius appointments will expand Pandora’s board to nine directors. “This is a very significant juncture in Pandora’s journey,” said Pandora Chief Executive and co-founder Tim Westergren, in a statement announcing Sirius’ investment. Westergren added that Sirius’ involvement with Pandora “gives us the flexibility we need to attack what is becoming a larger and larger opportunity as digital music enters a new golden age.” That opportunity lies largely in on-demand music streaming. In March, Pandora introduced Pandora Premium, its first fully on-demand subscription streaming option, which costs subscribers $9.99 a month. When Pandora reported its first-quarter results in May, the company said it had signed up 500,000 Premium subscribers on a trial basis. Pandora also offers Pandora Plus, an ad-free music-streaming option for $4.99 a month that lets users skip an unlimited number of songs and replay songs, as well as its longtime ad-supported free music listening service. But, Pandora has begun to feel the heat from rivals such as Spotify and Apple Music. During the first quarter of the year, Pandora reported 76.7 million active listeners and 5.21 billion listener hours, down from 79.4 million active listeners and 5.52 billion listener hours in the same period a year ago. Stan Meyers, an analyst who covers Pandora for Piper Jaffray, said that while Sirius’ investment in Pandora did not work out to the full acquisition that many had expected, it is significant enough that it should boost Pandora’s position on Wall Street, and help it reach more potential listeners. “It does meaningfully strengthen Pandora’s balance sheet, which has been weighing in on the stock, and delivers a strategic partner that can help grow Pandora in the car,” Meyers said. Along with bringing Sirius on board, Pandora is also getting out of another business: Ticketfly. Pandora said it had reached an agreement to sell its Ticketfly concert-ticketing business to Eventbrite in a deal valued at $200 million. Of that amount, Eventbrite will pay Pandora $150 million in cash and issue a $50 million note payable to Pandora. The size of the deal suggests Pandora may have had a hard time making a go of concert tickets, as Pandora paid $450 million for Ticketfly in October 2015. Investor reaction to Sirius’ investment in Pandora was mild, as Pandora’s shares rose 1.2 percent to close at $8.52. For the year to date, Pandora’s stock price has fallen nearly 35 percent. http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/06/09/pandora-has-a-new-listener-and-its-future-may-depend-on-it/
Lets see where all the dust settles. And when it does....take this to the bank.... there's gonna be a way too high PE involved somewhere. SIRI is at $5.50.... and thats a good first leg in as a short. Go a whopping 25% of your "units" as Surf used to say... SIRI may go higher on low volume or takeover rumors.... but it is HUGELY overvalued. Watch the churn.... and new subscriber growth. $5.50 is a gift. 4.7B shares outstanding....1.5B in the public float..... You guys oughta be declaring a St. Zandy day. Whatever. SIRI is a pig. - vz
Sirius XM and Pandora Strike a Win-Win Deal https://www.fool.com/investing/2017...pandora-strike-a-win-win-deal.aspx?yptr=yahoo
This is good for Pandora, gravy for KKR, and a so so move by SIRI. SIRI's premium service is $20/month. Music only is $11. Where the rubber meets the road, SIRI's business model is just like Dish, Spectrum, T etc. With the right cable/internet package, you can take your music and news with you via your phone anyway. Plug your phone into your car radio and away you go. Not a lot of added value here for the extra $'s/month. There's too many players in this game and I fail to see what SIRI has to offer to justify its monthly subscription price. I mean I enjoy it when they activate it for free for a couple weeks every year, but who needs 150 channels when most people probably frequent 3-5 tops? And they have strategically packaged the popular channels to make it necessary to buy the premium package. I hope it breaks $6.25 on this news.... but like I said, let the dust settle and lets watch subscriber growth over the next couple quarters, because that's what will make or break SIRI's stock price. Show me the growth! It too has come too far too fast on hype. It may look "cheap" at $5 to retail gamers... but percentage moves are percentage moves. $5.50 to $5 is like AMZN gapping down to $890. But let it run for now. Elite traders are patient. jmho (All bets off however if AAPL steps in to buy em)
Pandora Co-Founder and CEO Tim Westergren to Step Down http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment...r-and-CEO-Tim-Westergren-to-Step-11247195.php
Pandora acquires audio ad tech startup AdsWizz Pandora is acquiring San Mateo, Calif.-based digital audio ad tech startup AdsWizz for $145 million in cash and stock, the company announcedWednesday. After the acquisition, AdsWizz will continue to operate independently, but also power Pandora’s digital audio ad sales. “Since I joined Pandora six months ago, I have highlighted ad tech as a key area of investment for us,” said Pandora CEO Roger Lynch in a statement.(Variety)