Clearwire committee gives nod to Dish takeover bid over Sprint
Clearwire's board of directors is sending a pointed message to shareholders: pick the bid from Dish Network over Sprint.
The decision was reported late on Wednesday with the shareholder vote pushed back to Monday, June 24.
Dish is offering shareholders approximately $4.40 per share compared to $3.40 a pop from Sprint for the 49 percent of Clearwire shares it doesn't already own.
The latest move comes after a busy week in the Clearwire-Sprint-Dish-SoftBank web of mergers and acquisitions.
On Tuesday, SoftBank sweetened the deal to nab Sprint, promising shareholders $21.6 billion to stave off Dish's chances of securing the carrier. That was after shareholder and advisory firm Egan-Jones Ratings reversed its position on the Japanese carrier's original $20.1 billion offer.
Yet it still doesn't match Dish's most recent bid of $25.5 billion.
On the sidelines is a bizarre legal battle in which Sprint filed a complaint last week that Dish's proposal to obtain Clearwire violates Delaware state law.
Dish chairman Charlie Ergen slammed the accusations in a letter addressed to Clearwire chairman John Stanton, retorting that such accusations are "incorrect and misleading."
Ergen has also been said to make a play for picking up LightSquared's radio frequencies to Dish's networking portfolio.
It was reported in May that the TV satellite giant made a $2 billion bid for LightSquared, which is owned by private investment firm Harbinger Capital Partners.