Clearwire Chief Executive Erik Prusch said he was confident the deal can win over enough shareholders.
"That's completely different to where we were a short time ago," said Prusch who said the offer ended several days of intense negotiations between Sprint and Clearwire. Clearwire's efforts were led by Dennis Hersch, the head of its special committee, and John Stanton, Clearwire's chairman.
"The difference with this is that it comes with the validation of a group of our minority shareholders," Prusch said.
The group of four shareholders - Mount Kellett Capital Management LP, Glenview Capital Management LLC, Chesapeake Partners Management Co, Inc and Highside Capital Management LP - had publicly complained about Sprint's offer priced and teamed up to negotiate for a higher price.
The latest offer was the third time Sprint raised its bid since its first December offer to buy Clearwire's minority shares for $2.90 each.
The latest Sprint offer came just days before Clearwire shareholders were expected to vote down its previous $3.40 per share offer.
Clearwire postponed a June 24 shareholder vote until July 8 to give shareholders time to review the new offer.
Shareholders had complained that Sprint's previous offer was too low even before Dish made its counterbid at the end of May. Analysts and investors told Reuters that Sprint would need to raise its bid or risk a contentious relationship with Dish as a minority shareholder.
(Reporting by Sinead Carew; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Richard Chang and Bernard Orr)
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