No Current Plans to Acquire Clearwire, Sprint Says

Sprint has no current plans to acquire the rest of Clearwire, the company says. The statement, and other actions recently taken by Clearwire's owners, seem aimed at reassuring Sprint investors that the company would not be affected by any Clearwire default on its debt obligations.

The company does have the right to acquire more "exchangeable notes" in Clearwire, an option exercisable up to Jan. 2, 2011, that could be converted into more Clearwire shares.

But Sprint says "no decision on whether to exercise its preemptive rights has been made."

Sprint says it continues to hold discussions with Clearwire regarding further investment in the company but "has no plans at present to acquire Clearwire."

Sprint also said that the shareholder's agreement has been amended to permit Sprint, at any time, to unilaterally surrender voting securities to reduce its voting security percentage below 50 percent. That's important because some observers have worried that Sprint could be affected by any potential financial default on Clearwire's part.

Sprint now has additional flexibility to avoid any risk that Sprint incurs a default under its debt agreements because of its voting interest in Clearwire. Any reduction would only affect Sprint’s voting shares in Clearwire. Sprint’s economic interest in Clearwire would not be affected.

Sprint Newsroom | Sprint Statement on Closing of Clearwire Debt Offering