Dish Network Corp., the Douglas County-based satellite-TV provider controlled by billionaire Charlie Ergen, raised its bid for Clearwire Corp. to $4.40 a share in cash, topping Sprint Nextel Corp.’s offer for the company by 29 percent.
Dish is offering to buy all of Clearwire’s outstanding shares, though it would accept a deal for anything above 25 percent of the company, according to a statement Wednesday. The satellite company had previously bid $3.30 a share for Clearwire, leading Sprint to raise its price to $3.40 last week.
The new offer creates fresh headaches for Sprint, which owns slightly more than 50 percent of Clearwire and has been attempting to buy the remaining stake since December. After Sprint increased its offer last week, Clearwire shareholder Crest Financial Ltd. and a group of investors led by Mount Kellett Capital Management LP both filed letters calling for shareholders to reject the new terms. They have said that the deal undervalues Clearwire and its wireless spectrum holdings.
Dish is seeking to push into the mobile-phone business and sees Clearwire’s assets as a way to bolster that expansion. Ergen has already assembled his own collection of airwaves that could be used to offer wireless service.
“We are committed to completing a transaction that will permit Dish to commercialize its significant portfolio of wireless spectrum assets,” Dish said in a letter to Clearwire Wednesday.
