Clearwire unloading $300 million to find more funding for LTE
Clearwire is scrounging for cash as the Bellevue, Wash.-based company has announced that it will be making $300 million of its Class A Common Stock available in a registered public offering.
Clearwire is also planning to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional $45 million of more Class A Common Stock. J.P. Morgan, Bank of America - Merrill Lynch, and Jefferies & Company are acting as joint book-running managers for the proposed offering.
The reasons behind the sale are quite simple: Clearwire needs the money if it wants to continue to upgrade its infrastructure -- especially the development and deployment of a mobile 4G LTE nationwide network to run alongside its existing WiMax technology.
Sprint, one of Clearwire's major customers and partners, is the only major nationwide provider to speak of that utilizes WiMax. The hope, for Clearwire at least, is that once the LTE network is up and running, that should bring in more customers and revenue.
Last week, Clearwire made news when it announced a new network deal with Sprint -- an agreement that has the potential to provide an additional $1.6 billion in payments and should sustain the wholesale 4G network provider for at least a few more years.
This time, however, Sprint is only purchasing Class B Common Stock shares and Interests off of Clearwire. Thus, Clearwire is looking for new bidders when it comes to this $300 million allotment.
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