BELLEVUE, Wash., Dec. 13, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --  Clearwire Corporation (Nasdaq:CLWR) ("Clearwire") announced today that it has closed its public offering (the "offering") of 201,250,000 shares of Class A common stock at $2.00 per share originally announced on December 5, 2011, comprised of 175,000,000 shares of Class A common stock initially offered and an additional 26,250,000 shares of Class A common stock sold pursuant to the underwriters' exercise of their over-allotment option. The successful offering will provide Clearwire with net proceeds of $384.1 million, after underwriters' discounts and commissions.

In addition, Sprint has exercised its preemptive rights to purchase 173,635,000 shares of Class B Common Stock and a corresponding number of Class B units in Clearwire Communications LLC, which will provide Clearwire with an additional $331.4 million in net proceeds. The total net new capital available to Clearwire following today's closings is $715.5 million.

"This equity raise is a critical step for Clearwire to achieve its long-term business plan of creating the first wide-channel TDD-LTE 4G network in the U.S.," said Erik Prusch, president and CEO of Clearwire. "The added resources will enable us to continue delivering 4G mobile broadband service to meet the rapidly growing demand in the industry. We remain ideally and uniquely positioned to serve both wholesale and retail customers well into the future."

On December 1, 2011, Clearwire and Sprint announced agreements whereby, among other things, Sprint committed to provide additional equity funding to Clearwire in connection with a public offering meeting certain requirements. Today's exercise of preemptive rights by Sprint satisfies its commitment.

Clearwire plans to use the net proceeds for general corporate and working capital purposes, including the deployment of mobile 4G LTE technology alongside the mobile 4G WiMAX technology currently on its network, and for the operation and maintenance of its networks, and to pay fees and expenses associated with this offering.

J.P. Morgan, BofA Merrill Lynch and Jefferies acted as joint book-running managers for this offering.

The offering was made pursuant to an effective shelf registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The offering was made only by means of the written prospectus and prospectus supplement that form a part of the registration statement. A copy of the prospectus and prospectus supplement related to the offering may be obtained by contacting: J.P. Morgan, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, New York 11717, or by calling toll-free at 1-866-803-9204, or BofA Merrill Lynch, 4 World Financial Center, New York, New York, 10080, Attn: Prospectus Department or by email at dg.prospectus_requests@baml.com, or Jefferies, Equity Syndicate Prospectus Department, at 520 Madison Avenue, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10022, at 877-547-6340 and at Prospectus_Department@Jefferies.com.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.