Clearwire Tumbles After Verizon Announces Spectrum Sale

Clearwire Corp. (CLWR), the unprofitable wireless-broadband wholesaler, fell to its lowest price since January after Verizon Wireless said it will sell some of its spectrum.

Shares of Clearwire declined 6.9 percent to $1.76 at the close in New York, after earlier retreating 20 percent. The Bellevue, Washington-based company’s shares have dropped 70 percent in the past 12 months.

Clearwire, which hasn’t reported an annual profit in at least five years, could be forced by creditors to sell spectrum assets, which were worth as much as $4 billion at the end of September, Ping Zhao, a CreditSights Inc. analyst, has said.

Any sale of good quality spectrum makes Clearwire’s holdings less valuable, Christopher King, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus & Co., said in an interview today. King has a hold rating on the shares.

Verizon plans to conduct an open-sale process for all of its 700 megahertz A and B spectrum licenses, covering dozens of major U.S. cities and some smaller markets, according to a statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Sherman in New York at asherman6@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Niamh Ring at nring@bloomberg.net