US WiMAX wholesaler Clearwire has raised net proceeds of US$715.5m through a public share offering and a private transaction with its majority shareholder, the mobile operator Sprint Nextel.
Clearwire announced the closing of its public offering of…
US WiMAX wholesaler Clearwire has raised net proceeds of US$715.5m through a public share offering and a private transaction with its majority shareholder, the mobile operator Sprint Nextel.
Clearwire announced the closing of its public offering of class A common stock, saying the offering would provide it with US$384.1m in net proceeds, after underwriters’ discounts and commissions.
The offering involved the sale of 201.25m shares of class A common stock. This was made up of 175m shares originally offered, as well as 26.25m that were acquired by the underwriters exercising their over-allotment option.
Clearwire added that Sprint had exercised its pre-emptive rights to acquire 173.6m shares of class B common stock, as well as a corresponding number of class B units in Clearwire Communications, the operating subsidiary of Clearwire Corporation.
This will provide US$331.4m in net proceeds to Clearwire.
The shares purchased by Sprint are newly-issued shares by Clearwire. The share purchase does not change Sprint’s equity stake in Clearwire.
The joint bookrunning managers were BoA Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan and Jefferies.
Clearwire has said previously that proceeds from the offering would be used for general corporate and working capital purposes. These include the deployment of LTE technology, alongside the WiMAX technology currently on Clearwire’s network.
