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Sprint now finally owns 100 percent of Clearwire

Sprint now finally owns 100 percent of Clearwire

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Sprint store (STOCK)
Sprint store (STOCK)

Sprint just announced that it has successfully completed its purchase of Clearwire — its final, best offer of $5 per share was accepted, and the transaction has been closed as of today. This comes just one day after SoftBank and Sprint announced their merger would be complete on July 10th and less than a week since the FCC gave both deals its blessing. Sprint was already a majority shareholder in Clearwire, but now the carrier — and thus Sprint's new owner, SoftBank — now owns 100 percent of the company. It's a key acquisition for Sprint, as the carrier plans to use Clearwire's spectrum to continue building out its LTE network.

This week's news also makes two of Dish's planned acquisitions official failures — the company had hoped to purchase both Sprint and Clearwire, and submitted aggressive bids to do so. But plans for both the Sprint and Clearwire purchases fell through in late June, paving the way for SoftBank and Sprint to continue unabated. It remains to be seen what exactly Dish will try next to gain a foothold in the wireless marketplace — but it'll have to find other partners to realize that dream.