(gigaom.com) -- The saga of Sprint and Clearwire seems like it will never end. After already putting off one shareholder vote this month on Sprint’s planned takeover, Clearwire canceled another vote Friday, giving the company time to evaluate Dish Network’s last-minute counter offer for the ailing WiMAX operator.
On Wednesday, Dish played what appears to be its final trump card, offering $4.40 a share – a full $1 more than Sprint – for all or a portion of Clearwire’s stock. Dish is looking for an established carrier on which to hang its future LTE network. Clearwire fits the bill, but Dish doesn’t need to own the company outright – just enough to prevent Clearwire’s primary stakeholder Sprint from barring it from a network sharing partnership.
In a statement, Clearwire’s board said it would adjourn today’s 10:30 AM PT shareholders’ meeting without a vote, but is scheduling a new meeting June 13. Though the board is still backing Sprint’s bid for now, it said it plans to pow-wow with Dish and its financial advisors on the new deal and present its recommendations to shareholders before the 13th.
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