|
Quotes & Info
|
| S > SEC Filings for S > Form 8-K on 18-Dec-2012 | All Recent SEC Filings |
18-Dec-2012
Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement, Financial Statements and Exhibits
Merger Agreement
On December 17, 2012, Sprint Nextel Corporation, a Kansas corporation (the "Company"), and Collie Acquisition Corp., a Delaware corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company ("Merger Sub"), entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the "Merger Agreement") with Clearwire Corporation, a Delaware corporation ("Clearwire"), pursuant to which, at the effective time of the merger (the "Effective Time"), Merger Sub will merge with and into Clearwire, with Clearwire surviving the merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company (the "Merger").
Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, at the Effective Time, each issued and outstanding share of Class A common stock of Clearwire (the "Class A Common Stock") (other than any shares owned by the Company, SOFTBANK CORP. ("SoftBank") or any of their respective subsidiaries) will be cancelled and will be converted automatically into the right to receive $2.97 per share in cash, without interest (the "Merger Consideration"). In addition, Intel Capital Wireless Investment Corporation 2008A ("Intel Capital Wireless"), the only holder of Class B common stock of Clearwire ("Class B Common Stock" and, together with the corresponding Clearwire Communications, LLC ("Clearwire Communications") Class B units, the "Class B Interests") other than Clearwire, the Company and the Company's affiliates, has elected to irrevocably convert, immediately prior to the Effective Time, all of its Class B Interests into shares of Class A Common Stock, which will then be cancelled and converted automatically into the right to receive the Merger Consideration at the Effective Time pursuant to the Merger.
As of December 17, 2012, the Company and its subsidiaries owned 739,010,818 shares (or approximately 50.4%) of Clearwire's voting common stock.
Stockholders of Clearwire will be asked to vote on the adoption of the Merger
Agreement at a special meeting that will be held on a date to be announced.
Consummation of the Merger is subject to a number of conditions precedent,
including, among others: (i) the adoption of the Merger Agreement by the holders
of at least 75% of the outstanding shares of Clearwire's common stock entitled
to vote on the Merger, voting as a single class, and at least a majority of the
outstanding shares of Clearwire's common stock not held by the Company, SoftBank
and their respective affiliates, voting as a single class, at a duly called
stockholders' meeting (the "Clearwire Stockholder Approval"); (ii) the consent
of the Federal Communications Commission to the consummation of the Merger;
(iii) the absence of any order enjoining the consummation of, or prohibiting,
the Merger; (iv) the non-occurrence of any Material Adverse Effect (as defined
in the Merger Agreement) from the date of the Merger Agreement to the Effective
Time; and (v) the consummation of the pending merger between the Company and
SoftBank and certain affiliates thereof (the "SoftBank Transaction") or an
alternative transaction thereto.
The Merger Agreement includes customary representations, warranties, covenants and agreements, including, among other things, covenants of Clearwire regarding the conduct of its business prior to the Effective Time and the calling and holding of a meeting of Clearwire's stockholders for the purpose of obtaining the Clearwire Stockholder Approval, and mutual covenants regarding the use of each party's reasonable best efforts to cause the Merger to be consummated. The Company has also agreed, subject to the fiduciary duties of the Company's Board of Directors, to use the level of efforts set forth in the merger agreement related to the SoftBank Transaction to consummate the SoftBank Transaction and not to terminate the SoftBank Transaction other than in connection with entering into an alternative transaction.
Under the Merger Agreement, Clearwire is subject to a "no-shop" restriction on its ability to solicit offers or proposals relating to an acquisition proposal or to provide information to or engage in discussions or negotiations with third parties regarding an acquisition proposal, subject to certain exceptions.
The Merger Agreement contains termination rights for both the Company and Clearwire, including the Company's right to terminate if (i) prior to the Clearwire Stockholder Approval, the Clearwire Board or Clearwire Special Committee (each, as defined below) withdraws, qualifies or modifies its approval or recommendation to the stockholders of Clearwire of the adoption of the Merger Agreement in a manner adverse to the Company or (ii) the SoftBank Transaction shall have been terminated (other than by the Company in connection with a replacement
The Merger and the Merger Agreement were approved unanimously by the Company's Board of Directors, the Special Committee (the "Clearwire Special Committee") of Clearwire's Board of Directors (the "Clearwire Board") and the Clearwire Board. Pursuant to the terms of the merger agreement relating to the SoftBank Transaction, SoftBank provided its consent for the Company to enter in the Merger Agreement and related transactions.
The Merger Agreement has been attached as an exhibit hereto to provide investors and security holders with information regarding its terms. It is not intended to provide any other factual information about the Company, Clearwire or any of their respective affiliates or businesses. The representations, warranties, covenants and agreements contained in the Merger Agreement were made only for the purposes of such agreement and as of specified dates, were solely for the benefit of the parties to such agreement, and may be subject to limitations agreed upon by the contracting parties. The representations and warranties may have been made for the purposes of allocating contractual risk between the parties to the Merger Agreement instead of establishing these matters as facts, and may be subject to standards of materiality applicable to the contracting parties that differ from those applicable to investors. Investors and security holders are not third-party beneficiaries under the Merger Agreement and should not rely on the representations, warranties, covenants and agreements or any descriptions thereof as characterizations of the actual state of facts or condition of the Company, Clearwire or any of their respective affiliates or businesses. Moreover, the assertions embodied in the representations and warranties contained in the Merger Agreement are qualified by information in a disclosure letter that Clearwire has provided to the Company. Accordingly, investors and security holders should not rely on the representations and warranties as characterizations of the actual state of facts of Clearwire, the Company or any of their respective affiliates or businesses. Moreover, information concerning the subject matter of the representations and warranties may change after the date of the Merger Agreement, which subsequent information may or may not be fully reflected in the Company's or Clearwire's public disclosures.
The foregoing description of the Merger Agreement is only a summary, does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Merger Agreement, which is filed as Exhibit 2.1 hereto, and is incorporated herein by reference.
Voting and Support Agreement
In connection with the Merger Agreement, each of Intel Capital Corporation, Intel Capital (Cayman) Corporation, Intel Capital Wireless, Comcast Wireless Investment, LLC and BHN Spectrum Investments, LLC (collectively, the "Voting Agreement Stockholders") have entered into a voting and support agreement with Clearwire (the "Voting Agreement") under which the Voting Agreement Stockholders have each agreed to vote their shares of common stock of Clearwire, among other things, in favor of approving and adopting the Merger Agreement, in favor of the matters to be voted upon by Clearwire's stockholders pursuant to the Note Purchase Agreement (as defined below), in favor of any proposal to adjourn or postpone the stockholders' meeting held to approve and adopt the Merger Agreement, and against other acquisition proposals. In addition, the Voting Agreement Stockholders have agreed not to transfer shares of common stock of Clearwire owned by them prior to Clearwire obtaining the Clearwire Stockholder Approval, subject to certain exceptions. The Voting Agreement also contains certain consents and waivers by the Voting Agreement Stockholders pursuant to the Equityholders' Agreement (the "Equityholders' Agreement") among the Voting Agreement Stockholders, Clearwire and Sprint HoldCo, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company ("Sprint HoldCo"), and Clearwire Communications operating agreement with respect to the Merger and the related transactions, including the issuance of the Interim Notes (as defined below). The Company is an express third party beneficiary of the Voting Agreement.
The Voting Agreement Stockholders own in the aggregate 191,055,450 shares (or approximately 13%) of Clearwire's common stock.
Agreement Regarding Right of First Offer
Sprint and Sprint HoldCo have also entered into an agreement (the "ROFO
Agreement") with the Voting Agreement Stockholders under which (i) if the Merger
Agreement is terminated due to the failure of the Clearwire stockholders to
approve the Merger and (ii) either (a) the SoftBank Transaction has been
consummated or (b) the SoftBank Transaction shall have been terminated by the
Company in order for the Company to enter into an alternative transaction and
such alternative transaction shall have been consummated, then each such Voting
Agreement Stockholder will, upon the later to occur of the events described in
(i) or (ii), deliver a right of first offer notice to the other equityholders of
Clearwire pursuant to the terms of the Equityholders' Agreement, to offer to
sell all of the equity securities of Clearwire and Clearwire Communications such
entity owns at a price per share equal to the Merger Consideration. The Company
will then be obligated to elect to purchase any such equity securities in any
such notice. The Voting Agreement Stockholders have agreed not to exercise their
respective purchase rights with respect to any such notice it receives from the
other Voting Agreement Stockholders. The ROFO Agreement will terminate upon the
occurrence of certain events, including at the election of each Voting Agreement
Stockholder if the SoftBank Transaction shall have been terminated by the
Company in order for the Company to enter into an alternative transaction.
Note Purchase Agreement
In connection with the Merger Agreement, on December 17, 2012, the Company entered into a Note Purchase Agreement (the "Note Purchase Agreement") with Clearwire, Clearwire Communications and Clearwire Finance Inc. (together with Clearwire Communications, the "Clearwire Issuers") pursuant to which the Company has agreed to purchase from the Clearwire Issuers up to an aggregate principal amount of $800 million of 1.00% Exchangeable Notes due 2018 (the "Interim Notes"), upon the request of Clearwire, in monthly $80 million installments on the first business day of each month (each a "Draw Date") beginning January 2013. The amount of Interim Notes that Clearwire can request that the Company purchase is subject to, among other things, the authorization and reservation of the underlying securities and the underlying securities being eligible for issuance pursuant to the applicable rules and regulations of NASDAQ. Additionally, on the last three Draw Dates (in August, September and October 2013), the Clearwire Issuers can only request that the Company purchase Interim Notes if an agreement has been reached on the accelerated build out of Clearwire's wireless broadband network (the "Build-Out Agreement") within 45 days of the date the Note Purchase Agreement is signed, the Build-Out Agreement is in full force and effect and Clearwire or the Clearwire Issuers have not breached any of their obligations under the Build-Out Agreement.
. . .
(d) Exhibits
Exhibit
Number Description
2.1* Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of December 17, 2012, by and
among Sprint Nextel Corporation, Collie Acquisition Corp. and
Clearwire Corporation
10.1 Note Purchase Agreement, dated as of December 17, 2012, by and among
Clearwire Corporation, Clearwire Communications, LLC and Collie
Finance, Inc., as issuers, and Sprint Nextel Corporation, as purchaser
|
* The schedules of the Merger Agreement have been omitted pursuant to Item 601(b)(2) of Regulation S-K. The Company agrees to furnish, supplementally, a copy of any schedule omitted from the Merger Agreement to the SEC upon request.
This Current Report on Form 8-K includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the securities laws. The words "may," "could," "should," "estimate," "project," "forecast," intend," "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "target," "plan," "providing guidance" and similar expressions are intended to identify information that is not historical in nature.
This Current Report on Form 8-K contains forward-looking statements relating to the proposed Merger between the Company and Clearwire pursuant to the Merger Agreement and the related transactions (collectively, the "transaction"). All statements, other than historical facts, including statements regarding the expected timing of the closing of the transaction; the ability of the parties to complete the transaction considering the various closing conditions; the expected benefits and efficiencies of the transaction; the competitive ability and position of the Company and Clearwire; and any assumptions underlying any of the foregoing, are forward-looking statements. Such statements are based upon current plans, estimates and expectations that are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. The inclusion of such statements should not be regarded as a representation that such plans, estimates or expectations will be achieved. You should not place undue reliance on such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such plans, estimates or expectations include, among others, (i) any conditions imposed in connection with the transaction, (ii) approval of the transaction by Clearwire stockholders, (iii) the satisfaction of various other conditions to the closing of the transaction contemplated by the Merger Agreement, (iv) legal proceedings that may be initiated related to the transaction, and (v) other factors discussed in Clearwire's and the Company's Annual Reports on Form 10-K for their respective fiscal years ended December 31, 2011, their other respective filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and the proxy statement and other materials that will be filed with the SEC by Clearwire in connection with the transaction. There can be no assurance that the transaction will be completed, or if it is completed, that it will close within the anticipated time period or that the expected benefits of the transaction will be realized.
None of the Company, Clearwire or Collie Acquisition Corp. undertakes any obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which the statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any of these forward-looking statements.
Additional Information and Where to Find It
In connection with the transaction, Clearwire will file a proxy statement and other materials with the SEC. INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS ARE ADVISED TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT AND OTHER RELEVANT MATERIALS WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT CLEARWIRE AND THE TRANSACTION. Investors and security holders may obtain free copies of these documents (when they are available) and other documents filed with the SEC at the SEC's web site at www.sec.gov. In addition, the documents filed by Clearwire with the SEC may be obtained free of charge by contacting Clearwire at Clearwire, Attn: Investor Relations, (425) 505-6178. Clearwire's filings with the SEC are also available on its website at www.corporate.clearwire.com..
Participants in the Solicitation
Clearwire and its officers and directors and the Company and its officers and directors may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from Clearwire stockholders with respect to the transaction. Information about Clearwire officers and directors and their ownership of Clearwire common shares is set forth in the proxy statement for Clearwire's 2012 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which was filed with the SEC on April 30, 2012. Information about the Company's officers and directors is set forth in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011, which was filed with the SEC on February 27, 2012. Investors and security holders may obtain more detailed information regarding the direct and indirect interests of the participants in the solicitation of proxies in connection with the transaction by reading the preliminary and definitive proxy statements regarding the transaction, which will be filed by Clearwire with the SEC.
|
|