Dish Network put in a bid for Clearwire yesterday which could trump Sprint Nextel’s $2.2 billion offer and set the stage for a takeover battle.
Dish’s $2.28 billion offer appeared to affirm the satellite TV provider’s plan to buy its way into the wireless industry, on which it has already spent $3 billion acquiring much-needed capacity.
The success of the move hinges on a number of conditions, not least of which is approval by Sprint, which owns just over 50 percent of Clearwire and is also keen to buy Clearwire shares. It has offered to buy those it does not currently own for $2.97 a share.
Clearwire made it clear that the proposal of $3.30 per share was only a preliminary indication of interest and subject to a number of uncertainties and conditions. Based on Clearwire’s outstanding class A shares the offer would amount to $2.28 billion.
Clearwire shares were trading at $3.18 after-hours yesterday.
Sprint to Dish’s bid by saying it believed Dish’s offer to be inferior to its own and not viable.