Clearwire Planning to Skip December 1 Debt Payment, Believed to Possibly Put Pressure on Sprint

Canaccord has published a research report on Clearwire (NASDAQ: CLWR) after the company reportedly is planning on skipping a debt payment that is due December 1.

In the report, Canaccord writes, "Clearwire is reported to be considering skipping a debt payment that comes due on December 1. The company has $698 million in cash, enough to cover the $237 million payment, but would likely need to raise cash in order to continue operations in the near future. CEO Erik Prusch said, “It's a very expensive payment that we have. It would be a significant drain of our cash, so we have to evaluate everything.” The company has a 30-day grace period after December 1 to make the payment. One fund manager thinks that Clearwire's statements may be aimed at pressuring Sprint (S) into extending a network-sharing agreement or drawing out potential partners. Clearwire has said it needs about $1 billion for its operations and to upgrade its network from the WiMax Wireless technology to long-term evolution technology."

Clearwire is currently trading down $0.07 from yesterday's $1.60 closing price.