Given Sirius XM’s low stock price, Mr. Karmazin said he would love to take the company private. But given the state of the credit markets, ‘How do you find [the money] today?’ If the company were generating positive cash flow, which he expects it to do for the full year in 2009, privatization would become much more feasible, he says.”

– Wall Street Journal, Sept. 15, 2008

Looks like Sirius XM (SIRI) CEO Mel Karmazin won’t be taking the company private anytime soon, although given its current stock price there’s no reason he couldn’t. At its current value, you’d have to sell off more than 70 shares of SIRI to purchase a one-month subscription to Sirius Satellite Radio.

Speaking at the Reuters Media Summit in New York Wednesday, Karmazin said he’s optimistic about the troubled satellite radio provider’s fourth-quarter revenues. Karmazin sees double-digit growth in 2009, despite the current economic environment, which he bemoaned on an earnings call last month with a very blunt, but entirely apt: “This environment sucks.” And though he was happy to discuss privatization with The Journal just a few months ago, that option seems to be off the table. “We don’t feel that we need to be acquired,” he said. “You should assume the company is not for sale.”

For now, anyway.

Given Sirius XM’s low stock price, Mr. Karmazin said he would love to take the company private. But given the state of the credit markets, ‘How do you find [the money] today?’ If the company were generating positive cash flow, which he expects it to do for the full year in 2009, privatization would become much more feasible, he says.”

– Wall Street Journal, Sept. 15, 2008

Looks like Sirius XM (SIRI) CEO Mel Karmazin won’t be taking the company private anytime soon, although given its current stock price there’s no reason he couldn’t. At its current value, you’d have to sell off more than 70 shares of SIRI to purchase a one-month subscription to Sirius Satellite Radio.

Speaking at the Reuters Media Summit in New York Wednesday, Karmazin said he’s optimistic about the troubled satellite radio provider’s fourth-quarter revenues. Karmazin sees double-digit growth in 2009, despite the current economic environment, which he bemoaned on an earnings call last month with a very blunt, but entirely apt: “This environment sucks.” And though he was happy to discuss privatization with The Journal just a few months ago, that option seems to be off the table. “We don’t feel that we need to be acquired,” he said. “You should assume the company is not for sale.”

For now, anyway.