Clearwire's stock surges on new investment report

Clearwire Corp. (CLWR) witnessed a surge in its stock price this morning following another published report indicating a possible acquisition by current majority owner Sprint Nextel Corp. (S)
Clearwire’s stock was up more than 35% in early trading after Bloomberg released a story indicating that Sprint Nextel was in talks with a handful of cable television operators about a possible investment that would be then used to acquire all of Clearwire. Those cable companies included Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable, which along with Bright House Networks L.L.C., currently own a 15% stake in Clearwire. Sprint Nextel currently controls 54% of Clearwire.
The Bloomberg report also indicated that Cox Communications Inc. and Cablevision Systems Corp. have also had discussions with Sprint Nextel about a possible investment. Cox announced earlier this year that it would abandon plans to build out its own 3G network and would instead rely on a wholesale agreement with Sprint Nextel.
The report indicated that the talks were in the very early stages, though the timing would line up with Clearwire’s recent announcement that it was looking for at least $600 million to begin rolling out LTE equipment across its current WiMAX footprint. Comcast, Time Warner and Sprint Nextel all currently offer mobile broadband offerings using Clearwire’s WiMAX network, though the LTE standard has gained significant market momentum and is seen as the go-to technology for next-generation networks.
Reports surfaced last week in the Wall Street Journal that Sprint Nextel’s board of directors had decided to make a “substantial” investment in Clearwire.