For investors, it's usually quite a relief when one of their companies simplifies its ownership structure. That was the dynamic behind satellite radio broadcaster Sirius XM Holdings' (NASDAQ: SIRI) nearly 3% gain in stock price on Tuesday. That improvement was much better than the 0.5% gain of the S&P 500 index on the day.

Before market open, Sirius and its majority shareholder Liberty Media (NASDAQ: LSXMA)(NASDAQ: LSXMB)(NASDAQ: LSXMK) announced the move in a joint press release. The two have signed definitive agreements under which they will be combined into a new, publicly traded entity. This, in addition to the blended company's broadcasting operations, will be known as SiriusXM.

The new-look Sirius will have one outstanding series of common stock, which is expected to trade under the current entity's ticker symbol of SIRI. All told, there will be just under 3.4 billion shares outstanding of the future company. Sirius and Liberty Media said that the latter's investors will hold roughly 81% of the business.

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Source Fool.com