Sprint looks to fully acquire Clearwire, sets eyes on spectrum
Two months after Sprint took a majority stake in Clearwire, the company is now looking to take complete control of the remaining 50 percent. CNBC is reporting that the carrier, itself not far removed from agreeing to sell off 70 percent of the business to Japan’s SoftBank, is in “active negotiations” with Clearwire in a bid to increase overall spectrum.
Clearwire and Sprint have a long history of dealings, stretching back to the rollout of a the Now Network’s now defunct WiMAX network. Reports of an attempted acquisition date back to 2011. The latest attempt still has a few hurdles to overcome, including the approval of aforementioned SoftBank, which will have to sign off on any deal to be struck between Sprint and Clearwire.
As of now, the report states that no deal is imminent. Sprint hopes to come to terms simultaneously with the finalization of the SoftBank deal. That should occur by March or April of next year.