Reports said that Sprint was looking to buy a controlling stake in Clearwire without an acquisition. Looks like they pulled it off, as the company has bought out one of Clearwire’s other shareholders to bump its 48% share up to a 50.8% controlling stake. Sprint acknowledges this in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday.
The filing confirms that Sprint has bought the outstanding shares of Eagle River Holdings, which represents the investment arm of Clearwire’s original founder Craig McCaw. Specifically, the carrier has opted to buy 31 million Class A shares and about 2.7 million Class B shares from Eagle River Holdings.
This transaction should allow Sprint to take control of Clearwire’s board so it can appoint a majority of its directors and thus control the company. This should help mitigate risks attached with having its own customers on Clearwire’s network.
