OVERLAND PARK (dpa-AFX) - Satellite TV provider Dish Network Corp. (DISH) said Tuesday that it would not be able to submit a revised offer for Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) by the Tuesday deadline set by the wireless carrier.
'While DISH continues to see strategic value in a merger with Sprint, the decisions made by Sprint to prematurely terminate our due diligence process and accept extreme deal protections in its revised agreement with SoftBank, among other things, have made it impracticable for DISH to submit a revised offer by the June 18th deadline imposed by Sprint,' Dish said in a statement.
Dish said it will consider its options with respect to Sprint and will focus its efforts and resources on completing its tender offer for Clearwire Corp. (CLWR).
In April, Dish submitted a $25.5 billion cash and stock takeover offer for Sprint, calling it superior to that of Softbank Corp. (SFTBF.PK, SFTBY.PK), Japan's third largest mobile carrier.
However, Sprint and SoftBank last week amended their merger agreement that saw a sweetened cash consideration and increased certainty to Sprint shareholders. Under the amended merger agreement, SoftBank raised the cash portion of its offer from $12.1 billion to $16.64 billion. Sprint's board unanimously approved the amended merger agreement, and scheduled a June 25 shareholder vote on it.
As part of the amended agreement, Sprint ended its discussions with Dish, but gave Dish a deadline of June 18 to provide its 'best and final' offer.
Dish's exit from the bidding race may clear the way for Softbank to acquire Sprint, but Clearwire remains a complication.
Late last month, Dish raised its offer for Clearwire to $4.40 a share in cash. In early January, Dish offered to to acquire Clearwire for $3.30 a share along with some of its spectrum assets. The Clearwire board has recommended shareholders accept Dish Network's cash tender offer to acquire all outstanding common shares of the company at $4.40 per share, and reject the $3.40 per share Sprint merger.
Sprint already owns a 50.8% stake in Clearwire and is vying to acquire the remaining stake in Clearwire.
The Dish tender offer has been amended and now is set to expire at the end of July 2.
Sprint has filed a complaint in the Delaware Court of Chancery against Dish and Clearwire asking the court to prevent the consummation of the Dish tender offer for Clearwire. However, Dish has termed Sprint's lawsuit a transparent attempt to divert attention from its failure to deal fairly with Clearwire's shareholders, as well as to exploit its majority position to block Clearwire's shareholders from receiving a fair price for their shares.
Dish shares closed Tuesday's regular trading session at $39.09, up 26 cents, and gained an additional 5 cents in after hours trading. Sprint shares closed Tuesday's regular trading session at $7.32, up 10 cents or 1.39%, but lost 11 cents or 1.50% in after hours trading. Clearwire shares closed the day's regular trading session at $4.56, down 7 cents or 1.51%, but gained 8 cents or 1.75% in extended hours trading.
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