Sprint (www.sprint.com) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the approximately 50% stake in Clearwire (www.clearwire.com) it doesn’t currently own for US$2.97 per share, equating to a total payment to Clearwire shareholders, other than Sprint, of $2.2 billion.
This transaction results in a total Clearwire enterprise value of approximately $10 billion, including net debt and spectrum lease obligations of $5.5 billion. The transaction consideration represents a 128% premium to Clearwire’s closing share price the day before the Sprint-SoftBank discussions were first confirmed in the marketplace on October 11, with Clearwire speculated to be a part of that transaction; and, a 40 percent premium to the closing price the day before receipt of Sprint’s initial $2.60 per share non-binding indication of interest on November 21.