SiriusXM today announced that it has agreed to acquire Pandora in an all-stock deal valued at $3.5 billion. SiriusXM provides satellite radio to some 36 million car-based subscribers, while Pandora has about 70 million listeners with 5.6 million paying monthly for Pandora's premium service. SiriusXM says it will be able to pair its exclusive content with Pandora's ad-supported and subscription tiers to deliver unique audio packages. SiriusXM hopes to use its existing base of automotive relationships to push Pandora more deeply into cars. The combined companies will continue to invest in content and technology for music services that are consumed in and out of the car. In particular, SiriusXM hopes to make new in-roads with mobile devices, where much of Pandora's content is consumed. The deal has been approved by the boards of both companies, but is still subject to regulatory requirements. SiriusXM and Pandora expect the deal to close during the first quarter of 2019.


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