Clearwire board urges shareholders to OK Sprint offer
Board says the deal is the best offer for Clearwire, despite other companies showing interest.
Clearwire's board of directors has gone through the due diligence evaluating buyout deals and all paths have led it to one conclusion: go with Sprint.
In a letter the board wrote to shareholders on Monday, Clearwire's directors urged their fellow shareholders to accept Sprint's merger deal with the company when they can vote on the transaction next week. In the letter, which was signed by Executive Chairman John Stanton, the board used the advice of analysts, its own evaluation of the deal, and help from an independent shareholder advising organization, called Institutional Shareholder Services, to make its case.
"Please consider all the facts," the board wrote. "Don't be convinced otherwise: the Clearwire board is confident that, absent the Sprint transaction, the Company's options become increasingly limited and, day by day, the future value for stockholders becomes even more unclear."
The saga that brought Clearwire to the precipice of merging with Sprint is one that's long and, at times, confusing. Sprint's deal to acquire Clearwire for $2.2 billion would allow the company to obtain the remaining shares it doesn't already own in Clearwire. Soon after that deal was offered, Dish made an unsolicited bid to acquire Clearwire for $5.15 billion. Verizon also reportedly tried to acquire Clearwire spectrum for as much as $1.5 billion.
Still, Clearwire has stuck with its claim that the Sprint deal is best. Earlier this month, in fact, Clearwire said that the Sprint deal was the only one brought before the board that's "fair, attractive, and certain value."
Shareholders will be able to vote on the transaction on May 21.