Bellevue, Wash. — Clearwire shareholders today approved the company’s proposed acquisition by Sprint, which expects to close the transaction on July 9.
The vote follows a decision by Dish Networks to withdraw a competing bid after Sprint, which owns 50.2 percent of Clearwire, sweetened its deal to buy the rest of the Clearwire shares that it doesn’t own.
The required majority of Clearwire stockholders not affiliated with Sprint voted in favor of the proposal to acquire all shares of Clearwire that Sprint does not own for $5 per share, Clearwire said. In addition, the holders of about 95 percent of all outstanding shares of common stock, including the shares held by Sprint, voted in favor of the acquisition.
Clearwire president/CEO Erik Prusch said his company “is looking forward to working closely with our counterparts at Sprint to realize the potential of our assets inherent in this combination as we integrate our two companies.”
Last Friday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved Sprint’s acquisition of Clearwire and SoftBank’s purchase of Sprint.
