Clearwire Committee to Back Dish's Offer, Delay Sprint Vote

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A special committee of Clearwire's board is planning to push back a June 13 shareholder vote and recommend the full board endorse a tender offer from Dish Network, according to a person familiar with the situation, a move that would shun an earlier takeover agreement with majority owner Sprint Nextel.

Despite the expected endorsement, the struggle for control of the mobile broadband provider is likely to continue amid a clash between Sprint and Dish over whether Clearwire can grant certain governance rights to Dish as part of its tender offer. Given Sprint's stake, Dish is seeking to become a major minority shareholder in Clearwire. It wasn't immediately clear how, or if, the Clearwire committee had interpreted the governance dispute. A Clearwire spokeswoman declined to comment Wednesday beyond an earlier statement that the board and committee are continuing their review.


Clearwire Committee to Back Dish's Offer, Delay Sprint Vote