Clearwire to tap into $80M financing from Sprint

BELLEVUE, Wash. (AP) — Clearwire says it will tap into $80 million in financing from Sprint, putting a hurdle in the way of a possible sale of the wireless network operator to Dish.

Bellevue, Wash.-based Clearwire has received buyout offers from both Sprint and Dish. In December, it agreed to a deal with Sprint Nextel Corp. that offered $2.2 billion for the 49 percent of Clearwire that Sprint doesn't already own. Then Dish Network Corp. bid about $5.15 billion for Clearwire in January.

As part of Sprint's deal, the wireless carrier had agreed to provide Clearwire with up to $800 million in financing — notes that could give Sprint a bigger stake if they were converted to stock.

Clearwire has said that if it used the Sprint financing, Dish would likely withdraw its offer.