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TAGGED AS SPRINT NEXTEL CORP.

Dish abandons Sprint bid

telecom | 06/21/2013 8:39 pm EDT

Dish Network Corp. won’t be making a new offer for Sprint Nextel Corp., the company said on Tuesday, clearing the way for Japanese mobile carrier Softbank Corp.to acquire Sprint. Dish, a U.S. satellite TV provider, bid $25.5 million US in April to acquire Sprint, the third-largest wireless provider in the U.S., as Sprint was already mulling a $20.1 million bid by Softbank. Last week, Softbank said in a release that it was raising its bid for Sprint by $1.5 billion US to $21.6 billion, causing Sprint to seek a new bid from Dish. In a release Tuesday, Dish said that it “continues to see strategic value in a merger with Sprint,” but found it was “impracticable” to meet a June 18 deadline to submit a revised offer. Dish said in its release on Tuesday that it will now focus on its offer to acquire Clearwire Corp., which is partly owned by Sprint and which Sprint is also attempting to take full control over. Reuters reported Friday that Clearwire is supporting Sprint’s latest offer to acquire a remaining...