US DTH giant Dish Network has abandoned plans to buy shares in Clearwire, leaving mobile operator Sprint in pole position to take over the wireless internet provider.
Dish, controlled by billionaire Charlie Ergen, had lodged a US$4.40 per share…
US DTH giant Dish Network has abandoned plans to buy shares in Clearwire, leaving mobile operator Sprint in pole position to take over the wireless internet provider.
Dish, controlled by billionaire Charlie Ergen, had lodged a US$4.40 per share tender offer to buy a minimum of 25% of Clearwire’s stock, but it withdrew the offer after the target’s board recommended Sprint’s sweetened US$5.00 proposal.
Sprint, which already holds half of Clearwire’s shares, has received commitments from 45% of the minority shareholders to accept its offer – it needs a majority of the remaining investors’ votes to complete the deal.
The telco’s latest offer, which represents a 68% premium on its initial US$2.97 bid last December, is the result of two bids from Dish in January and May.
The offer is contingent on the completion of Softbank‘s US$21.6bn takeover of Sprint, which is awaiting the green light from the FCC after receiving shareholder approval.
Dish had also been in the running for Sprint but pulled out of the process last week, saying it would be “impracticable” to make any new offer. The satellite broadcaster had been undertaking due diligence, however, Sprint’s special committee said it did not think Dish’s interest would lead to an offer that would be superior to Softbank’s.
Dish seeks 700MHz build-out waiver
Meanwhile, Dish has called on the FCC to scrap network build-out milestones for the 700MHz spectrum it paid more than US$700m for in an auction back in 2008.
It wants the regulator to extend or waive a requirement to provide coverage to at least 35% of each of its 168 licence areas in the US by 13 June 2013.
According to Dish, it has been unable to make progress in deploying services in this band because of a lack of suitable equipment and uncertainty over interference issues.
Dish’s sister company EchoStar acquired the frequencies five years ago under the guise of Frontier Wireless. Since then another subsidiary of the DTH operator, called Manifest Wireless, has been exploring ways to make use of this spectrum, including how to combine it with the AWS-4 (S-band) frequencies the group gained from acquiring MSS operators TerreStar Networks and DBSD North America.
The company has also been attempting to pick up other spectrum assets from the likes of Sprint and Clearwire, as well as satellite/terrestrial venture LightSquared, which remains in Chapter 11 protection.
“How these various components will fit together within Dish’s emerging wireless ecosystem is subject to numerous variables and evolving business considerations, but overall its plan is clear: ‘offer customers a convenient, fully-integrated, nationwide bundle of in-and-out-of-home video, broadband and voice services.’,” stated Dish in an FCC filing.
“It plans to do so using the company’s existing and proposed spectrum holdings, including the Manifest 700MHz licences.”
