Time Warner Cable (TWC) intends to dispose of its 46 million shares in US WiMAX wholesaler Clearwire Corporation, according to an SEC filing.
TWC currently owns a 7.8% stake in Clearwire, and other major shareholders will have the first option to buy…
Time Warner Cable (TWC) intends to dispose of its 46 million shares in US WiMAX wholesaler Clearwire Corporation, according to an SEC filing.
TWC currently owns a 7.8% stake in Clearwire, and other major shareholders will have the first option to buy all or part of it. Sprint is Clearwire’s largest shareholder despite a reduction of its economic interest in Clearwire below 50% in June this year.
TWC bought into Clearwire in 2008 when it paid US$550m as part of a group of companies – including Intel, Google and Comcast – that invested a total of US$3.2bn into the WiMAX firm.
That investment has not paid off and Clearwire shares are loitering at US$1.54, with TWC’s total stake worth in the region of US$72m.
In August the Federal Communications Commission and Department of Justice allowed TWC to sell spectrum to Verizon Wireless, Clearwire’s biggest competitor, and sign marketing agreements with the carrier that allow the operators to now promote and sell each others products.
Those agreements are limited to areas where Verizon does not offer its FiOS services.
