Dish Network's effort to acquire Sprint may not be going the way that it would like, but it appears that the situation involving Sprint, Dish and Clearwire is a different story. Sources speaking to The Wall Street Journal claim that a special Clearwire committee is planning to endorse Dish's bid of $4.40 per share for Clearwire, flip-flopping from its previous endorsement of Sprint's offer to acquire the portion of Clearwire that it doesn't already own. Clearwire's committee is also expected to push back the shareholder vote on the matter that's scheduled to take place on June 13.
Clearwire originally entered into an agreement with Sprint in late 2012 in which Sprint would buy out the remaining 50 percent of Clearwire that it didn't already own for $2.97 per share. Dish then swooped in and made its own bid for Clearwire as part of its effort to enter the wireless industry. Sprint and Dish then each raised their bids, and now it's rumored that a Clearwire committee tasked with investigating the bids may switch its endorsement from Sprint's bid to Dish's. Dish is attempting to gain at least a 25 percent stake in Clearwire and become a major minority shareholder in the company, and while it remains to be seen whether or not that'll actually happen, getting the Clearwire committee's endorsement would increase Dish's odds.
UPDATE: Clearwire has officially announced that its special committee and board of directors have unanimously voted that the company's stockholders vote for Dish's offer of $4.40 per share. Clearwire also revealed that it is now planning to hold its shareholder vote on this matter on June 24.
