Verizon mulling Pandora investment if SiriusXM deal fails
By Claire Atkinson
June 4, 2017 | 11:32pm
Verizon is eyeing a possible $100 million investment in Pandora Media if the online music streamer fails to reach a deal this week for an outright sale to satellite radio giant SiriusXM, The Post has learned.
Top Verizon exec Tim Armstrong could be a candidate for the Pandora board under one possible scenario, according to sources, with one insider noting that the radio giant could benefit greatly from Verizon-owned AOL’s expertise in programmatic, or automated ad serving.
Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam isn’t weighing a full-on Pandora purchase at this stage since he is still busy integrating his acquisition of Yahoo with AOL in the short term, sources said. But Verizon could be interested in data from Pandora’s 80 million, mostly young mobile users.
Pandora and Verizon declined to comment. Officials at SiriusXM couldn’t be reached for comment.
The Post confirmed on May 17 that Liberty Media’s SiriusXM was holding active conversations about an acquisition of Pandora, and sources say SiriusXM has been conducting due diligence on Pandora for the past few weeks.
SiriusXM has recently been in discussions to buy Pandora for between $11 and $12 a share, valuing the company at around $2.8 billion, two sources close to the process told The Post.
Still, there are suggestions that prior conversations in early May were in the $13-a-share range. Fears linger that Liberty Media CEO Gregg Maffei, negotiating on behalf of SiriusXM, will back out or try to negotiate the price down still further.
Pandora’s stock has had a rough few weeks amid the uncertainty, but closed up 1.8 percent on Friday at $9.30 a share. That’s well under the $15-per-share bid SiriusXM made to Pandora’s board last July. The rejection of that much higher offer last year could result in lawsuits, insiders say.
“There is a very high likelihood that something happens in the next week to 10 days but you just never know with Greg Maffei,” a source close to talks said. “It makes sense for everybody. Its 60 percent to 65 percent it happens.”
If Pandora and SiriusXM can’t come to terms, Pandora has lined up other options. Private equity firm KKR said last month it would invest $150 million in Pandora in return for preferred shares if the firm had not sold itself within 30 days. The 30-day deadline arrives this Thursday.
“KKR really wants to do this deal,” a source said. “They like the business and the Pandora service and the deal will be good for them.”
If KKR moves in — likely with Verizon, which according to one source also sees Pandora was a way to further its push into internet-connected cars — Pandora management under founder Tim Westergren is almost certain for yet another shake-up.
Sources say Pandora’s major shareholders, the two activist investors Corvex and Matrix, are essentially calling the shots in deal talks. Notably, billionaire Steve Cohen’s family office Point72 acquired a 5.4 percent stake in the venture last month.
Pandora’s chief financial officer, Naveen Chopra, is expected to present an upbeat picture of the second quarter at Stifel’s Tech and Media conference in San Francisco on Tuesday.
Meanwhile SiriusXM’s stock has risen on market expectations for a deal with Pandora. It could be headed for a fall if a deal dissolves. Since The Post’s report on May 17, SiriusXM’s stock has risen 16 percent, or 75 cents per share, to $5.48 from $4.73.
“SiriusXM’s stock has risen by an amount that exceeds the entire market cap of Pandora,” which stood at $2.27 billion on Friday, a source noted.
