The Federal Communications Commission has unanimously approved both the acquisition of Sprint Nextel (S) by Japan's SoftBank and Sprint's purchase of the remaining shares it doesn't already own of Clearwire (NASDAQ: CLWR), Sprint recently announced.
While SoftBank's acquisition of Sprint received shareholder approval on June 25, Clearwire shareholders have yet to vote on Sprint's bid to purchase the wireless company, according to the release. The vote from Clearwire shareholders on Sprint's bid is expected on July 8 and has already been approved by Clearwire's board of directors.
In response to the FCC's approvals, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse commented, "Just two years ago, the wireless industry was at the doorstep of duopoly, but with these transformative transactions, we are one step closer to a stronger Sprint which will better serve consumers, challenge the market share leaders, and drive innovation in the American economy."
Both the SoftBank acquisition of Sprint and Sprint's bid to complete its purchase of Clearwire are expected to close in "early July 2013, subject to the remaining closing conditions," Sprint said.
