Sprint is offering $2.1 billion to buy the remaining shares in mobile broadband supplier Clearwire, a move which could give the number three US mobile carrier needed spectrum to expand.
A regulatory filing showed Thursday that Sprint, which already owns 50.4 percent of Clearwire, offered $2.90 a share, which represents a premium to Wednesday’s closing price of $2.75.
Sprint, which is due to get a big capital injection from Japanese mobile carrier Softbank, would gain control of Clearwire’s spectrum and broadband WiMax network, which is becoming more valuable with the surge of mobile Internet use.
But some minority shareholders in Clearwire have already filed court action to block the deal, claiming Clearwire should seek a better offer.
Crest Financial Limited said in its lawsuit that Clearwire breached its fiduciary duties “by allowing Sprint to extract for itself the value of Clearwire’s high-speed, broadband spectrum to the detriment of Clearwire’s minority shareholders.”
Other shareholders in Clearwire include computer chip giant Intel and Comcast, which controls NBCUniversal and is one of the top US Internet providers.
Softbank is set to acquire 70 percent of Sprint, the number three US carrier behind AT&T and Verizon Wireless, by the middle of next year.
A regulatory filing by Clearwire said that on Wednesday, Sprint’s board authorized the move to proceed with offer and that Sprint had made details available to Softbank.
Softbank agreed in October to pay $20 billion for a 70 percent stake in US-based Sprint in the biggest overseas acquisition by a Japanese firm.
The tie-up was expected to provide Sprint with capital that the company needs to better compete with its larger rivals, analysts said.
Sprint has around 56 million US customers, roughly half the size of Verizon and AT&T.
Adding Clearwire and its valuable spectrum could help Sprint, which is seeking to differentiate itself from its rivals by offering unlimited data packages for mobile phone users, according to analysts.
Sprint offers $2.1 bn for full control of Clearwire
