Not long after Sprint filed suit to block Dish Network’s purchase of Clearwire, Sprint has decided to increase its purchase offer for the remainder of Clearwire it does not own from the $3.40/share previously offered as the last and final offer to $5 per share, matching the current trading range of the ISP’s constantly fluctuating stock price and valuing the company at $14 billion. In essence, Dish Network acting as the potential poison pill for the Clearwire purchase by Sprint forced Sprint to reconsider its previous purchase offers, which no doubt have current Clearwire shareholders and board members in good spirits.
As a result of the previous offer, Clearwire has postponed its previous vote on the preceding offer from Sprint from June 24th to July 8th. Dish Network has yet to react on the latest development.
Sprint has also received commitments from significant Clearwire stockholders, including Mount Kellett Capital Management LP, Glenview Capital Management LLC, Chesapeake Partners Management Co., Inc. and Highside Capital Management LP, which collectively own approximately 9 percent of Clearwire’s voting shares, to vote their shares in support of the transaction, along with Comcast Corp., Intel Corp and Bright House Networks LLC, who collectively own approximately 13 percent of Clearwire’s voting shares, and Clearwire’s directors and officers, stockholders owning approximately 45 percent of the Clearwire voting shares not affiliated with Sprint, now agreeing to vote their shares in support of the transaction.
The companies have further amended the merger agreement that was previously entered into. Specifically, in certain circumstances where the transaction between Sprint and Clearwire terminates, Clearwire will be required to pay a termination fee of $115 million, or 3 percent of the equity value of the minority stake.
