Sprint Bids for Rest of Clearwire
Sprint Nextel Corp. offered to acquire the 49% of Clearwire Corp. it doesn’t already own for $2.90 a share, confirming that the carrier is moving to consolidate a long-time partner that is key to its future strategy.
Clearwire shares immediately rose above the offer price Thursday, reinforcing expectations that any deal for the smaller wireless company will likely need to be higher. Although Sprint controls a majority of both Clearwire’s stock and board seats, any deal must be approved by a majority of non-Sprint directors and a majority of remaining shareholders.