Sprint runs in for larger share of wireless rival

Clearwire agreed to sell a roughly 50 per cent stake for $2.2bn to majority shareholder Sprint Nextel Corp, which would then have full ownership of spectrum that will help it offer high-speed wireless services.

By The Newsroom

Published 18th Dec 2012, 08:57 BST

The $2.97-per-share deal is only 7 cents per share higher than a bid many minority shareholders said was too low days before. Clearwire shares slid 9.8 per cent to $3.04 in pre-market trading.

Sprint already owns slightly more than half of Clearwire. The company said owners of 13 percent of Clearwire shares – Comcast Corp, Intel Corp and Bright House Networks LLC – had agreed to vote for the deal.

But it was not immediately clear whether Sprint, the number three US wireless carrier, could win the backing of a majority of Clearwire’s minority shareholders, which it needs to take control.

Shareholders with more than 13 per cent of Clearwire shares had said they were not happy with the $2.90-per-share offer, and some have said Sprint should offer as much as $5 per share.