Clearwire to Take $80 Million Funding Draw From Sprint

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Clearwire will again tap financing from Sprint Nextel under their buyout deal, taking a $80 million draw for May that will be the last available before Clearwire shareholders vote on the deal.

In December, Sprint offered to buy the rest of Clearwire in a $2.2 billion deal, and provided the wireless broadband operator up to $800 million in financing that it could draw on in installments of $80 million over 10 months. The company didn't take that funding in January or February, as it was considering an offer from satellite TV company Dish Network, but took the cash in March and April. Clearwire shareholders are set to vote on the deal on May 21. In a regulatory filing, Clearwire warned that the failure of the Sprint deal could force it to stop its network overhaul if it can't find alternative funding. The company's board is "actively considering" whether to make a June 1 interest payment on about $4.5 billion of outstanding debt, in order to save cash if the deal doesn't close for any reason. Clearwire said that its current cash could last until the first quarter of 2014.


Clearwire to Take $80 Million Funding Draw From Sprint Clearwire Draws $80 Million From Sprint Ahead of Merger Vote (Bloomberg) Sprint CEO talks unlimited data, LTE, SoftBank and Dish Network (Los Angeles Times – Hesse interview)