This article, originally titled “Clearwire Investors Selling Off Shares,” has been corrected to more accurately reflect the content of Clearwire’s filing with the SEC.
Clearwire has registered 108.8 million shares with the SEC to allow two companies who participated in its recent debt offering to convert the debt to equity shares or sell the stock, if they chose to.
Clearwire registered to let Chesapeake Partners and Highbridge International convert the debt they purchased from Clearwire late last year to equity shares, but it is not clear at this time whether the investment firms will choose to divest them. Clearwire will not receive any proceeds if Chesapeake and Highbridge decide to sell their shares.
Clearwire priced the shares at $4.93 as a baseline measure for the SEC’s registration fee. The company’s stock was selling at $4.87 in midday trading on the NASDAQ.
Clearwire’s funding woes have forced it to indefinitely delay its smartphone plans and stall the expansion of its WiMAX network into major cities. The company’s network will cover 130 million people by the end of the year, but is rapidly losing ground to Verizon Wireless’ LTE network, which launched in December and now covers 39 markets.
Despite its ongoing difficulties in securing capital, Clearwire’s subscriber growth has been strong. The company added 1.5 million new customers in the fourth quarter, driven primarily by wholesale subscribers, and now has 4.4 million customers. Clearwire expects to double its subscriber base to 8.8 million by the end of the year.