Sprint completes Clearwire acquisition after a long, bumpy road

Major wireless carrier Sprint has finally completed its acquisition of wireless high speed provider Clearwire, the company announced today.

Sprint previously owned more than half of Clearwire, but it had been trying for a long time to acquire the whole thing. Buying Clearwire will mean faster data download speeds and more bandwidth for many of Sprint’s coverage areas in the United States.

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Each share of Clearwire’s Class A common stock will be converted into the right to receive $5 per share in cash. (Basically, Sprint is paying $5 per share for most Clearwire shares.) The transaction also means that Clearwire will no longer appear on the Nasdaq stock exchange.

The acquisition of Clearwire couldn’t have more better timing, with Sprint officially becoming part of Japan’s SoftBank tomorrow. SoftBank’s deal to buy Sprint is worth $21.6 billion and was initiated last fall. The deal finally closes tomorrow, with SoftBank owning 78 percent fully diluted shares of Sprint.

With Clearwire’s spectrum and SoftBank’s resources, Sprint will now have more firepower to fight against Verizon Wireless and AT&T, the two largest wireless carriers in the U.S. Sprint is currently number three, and T-Mobile USA is in fourth place.