Did Personal Connections Jump Start the New Deal Between Sprint and Clearwire?

(NewsVisual, powered by IntellectSpace) -- In an announcement on Tuesday, Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ: CLWR) and Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) said that they were jointly forming a new wireless communications company that will usher in the next generation of Internet services.

The new company, to be named Clearwire, will provide mobile broadband experience for customers, including consumers, small and large businesses, and government agencies, and thereby dramatically enhance their ability to access high-speed Internet services, the companies’ joint statement said.

Aside from Sprint and Clearwire, the new company has five strategic investors who will contribute collectively $3.2 billion into the new company.

Those partner companies are Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) through Intel Capital, Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMSCA, CMCSK), Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC), and Bright House Networks.

Sprint will have approximately 51 percent equity and Clearwire shareholders will have approximately 27 percent ownership in the new company, whose share price will be worth approximately $20.00 per share.

"For Sprint shareholders, this is an opportunity to unlock and bring visibility to the value of our significant spectrum assets, technology and expertise, by leveraging the technology, applications and distribution strengths of our investors, who together command nearly a half- trillion dollars in market capitalization," said Sprint CEO/President Dan Hesse in the joint statement.

For his part, Clearwire Chairman Craig O. McCaw emphasized the benefits the new company will be able to offer its customers when he made the following comments:

"The power of the mobile Internet, which offers speed and mobility, home and away, on any device or screen, will fundamentally transform the communications landscape in our country. We believe that the new Clearwire will operate one of the fastest and most capable broadband wireless networks ever conceived, giving us the opportunity to return the U.S. to a leadership position in the global wireless industry.”

Despite the palpable benefits that this joint venture offers to both Sprint and Clearwire, it might not have ever come to fruition without some high-level personal ties between the two companies.

NewsVisual created an IntellectSpace Knowledge Map that shows the personal connections of Clearwire Chairman Craig O. McCaw to board members at Sprint and several other sets of personal ties between the two companies as well.

To see the details of these connections, click here for an interactive and fuller version of this IntellectSpace Knowledge Map.

(Note: the information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America).