Sprint ups bid on Clearwire to $3.40 per share to outdo Dish

Sprint has decided that it doesn't want to let Clearwire out of its sights.

The company on Tuesday announced that it has revised its $2.97-per-share offer for Clearwire to $3.40 per share. The increased offer represents a 14 percent increase from Sprint's previous offer, valuing Clearwire at $10.7 billion. More importantly, it's 10 cents higher than the $3.30-per-share offer made by Dish.

Sprint already owns about 50 percent of Clearwire. The company had previously said that its offer was superior to the one Dish brought to Clearwire earlier this year, and Clearwire's board agreed. Sprint had indicated that it wouldn't make another offer for Clearwire, but evidently, it had a change of heart.

In a statement Tuesday, Sprint said this offer is its "best and final."

The timing on Sprint's bid is by no means coincidental. Clearwire shareholders were slated to vote today on the original Sprint transaction. Now, though, Clearwire's board must vote on the transaction and then leave it up to the shareholders to make a final decision. According to Sprint, Clearwire partial owners Comcast, Intel, and BrightHouse, which collectively own about 26 percent of Clearwire's shares, have endorsed the share-price increase.

In its own statement on the deal, Clearwire said that its special committee will review the new offer. It now expects to hold the shareholder vote on May 30.

This story has been updated throughout the morning.