Sprint-Clearwire: Interview: Ben Wolff, CEO, Clearwire: Deal Is “Locked And Loaded”
Clearwire (NSDQ: CLWR) has pulled off an extraordinary deal that includes merging its WiMax operations with Sprint’s (NYSE: S), and raising $3.2 billion from Intel (NSDQ: INTC), Google (NSDQ: GOOG), Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA), Bright House Cable and Trilogy Equity Partners’ John Stanton. For more perspective, I interviewed Clearwire’s CEO Ben Wolff, who will head the JV once the deal is completed. Wolff, a lawyer by training, is known as a dogged deal-maker and negotiator. Wolff told me the key goals today are letting people know the deal is firm and that the new Clearwire “has all the makings of a game changer” that will “change the communication landscape of the country for the benefit of consumers.”
Negotiating a seven-way partnership must be the most complex deal of your career? Can you go into some details on how it was accomplished?: Wolff: “I think it may be the most complex deal anyone has ever done. …On one hand, all of the partners bring something unique and complementary to the table — that’s a specific comment about the partners. A more generic comment is that when you are in negotiations with more than one company, it’s more complicated. A three-way deal is more complicated than two, and so on. There are folks out there who have said in the past that it’s impossible to do a three or four-way deal. A lot of people would have said this was impossible. I think it’s a real testament of the tenacity and intent and desire among all the partners to get this done….This has all of the industrial logic you can look for. Because of that, it’s a good fit. Everyone is incentivized to make the new Clearwire work and succeed because at the end of the day what we are all about is wanting access to a 4G network.” Lots more after the jump…
A lot of people are skeptical that this one will actually close, what do you say to those critics? : Wolff: “Will we actually get the deal to closing? We
This is one of the biggest deals done in wireless in a very long time, particularly because it wasn't a simple merger. There was actually thought given to this deal. It feels more about building something real and less about senior executive greed. It's also nice to see something like this get done after the MVNO flameouts spoiled wireless over the past 2 years. This deal has meat and legs. Congrats to the new Clearwire!