14 DAY TRIAL // Today, wireless carrier Sprint has confirmed plans to purchase the entire ownership of Clearwire as part of a deal worth $2.2 billion.
Sprint has already entered a definitive agreement for the acquisition of the around 50 percent stake in Clearwire that it doesn’t hold, and will pay $2.97 per share.
Sprint also notes that the deal will result in a total Clearwire enterprise value of approximately $10 billion, which also includes net debt and spectrum lease obligations of $5.5 billion.
“The transaction consideration represents a 128 percent premium to Clearwire's closing share price the day before the Sprint-SoftBank discussions were first confirmed in the marketplace on October 11, with Clearwire speculated to be a part of that transaction,” the wireless carrier announced.
It also added that the deal involves “a 40 percent premium to the closing price the day before receipt of Sprint’s initial $2.60 per share non-binding indication of interest on November 21.”
However, Sprint is confident that the transaction will be beneficial for the company, as the combined spectrum of the two carriers will enable it to strengthen its position and increase competitiveness in the U.S.
Sprint will integrate Clearwire’s complementary 2.5 GHz spectrum assets into its Network Vision architecture, which should result in better services for its customers.
The deal has already been approved by Clearwire’s board of directors, Sprint notes. Comcast Corp., Intel Corp., and Bright House Networks LLC, who own together around 13 percent of Clearwire, agreed to vote their shares in support of the transaction.
“Today’s transaction marks yet another significant step in Sprint’s improved competitive position and ability to offer customers better products, more choices and better services,” Sprint CEO Dan Hesse said.
“Sprint is uniquely positioned to maximize the value of Clearwire’s spectrum and efficiently deploy it to increase Sprint’s network capacity. We believe this transaction, particularly when leveraged with our SoftBank relationship, is further validation of our strategy and allows Sprint to control its network destiny,” he concluded.