Dish Network Withdraws Offer For Clearwire

The wireless broadband company is down 2.2% in after hours trading following Dish Network‘s announcement that it has taken its $4.40 a share offer off the table. Dish says that it made its decision after Clearwire’s board recommended that investors accept a $5 offer from Sprint, which already owns about half of Clearwire‘s stock. Sprint’s offer valued Clearwire at more than $14B. The developments pose a dilemma for Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen as he tries to create a national wireless broadband service. He has been amassing airwave spectrum rights but has said that he needs additional licenses. He had hoped to secure that by acquiring a large minority stake in Clearwire —  and by acquiring Sprint. But Japan’s SoftBank is poised to win the mobile phone provider after it outbid Dish.