Dish Network Makes $5.2 Bil Bid to Buy Clearwire Corp.

Dish Network has thrown a wrench into Sprint Nextel's plans to purchase the 50 percent of Clearwire it doesn't already own by making an unsolicited offer to purchase the wireless-broadband provider.

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Clearwire disclosed after the market's closed on Tuesday that it has received a bid of $3.30 from Dish, though Clearwire had already agreed to sell itself to Sprint Nextel for $2.97 a share.

The offer from Dish amounts to just under $5.2 billion when Clearwire's debt and cash on hand are considered.

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Shares of Clearwire closed fractionally higher at $2.92 on Tuesday and surged 9 percent to $3.18 in after-hours trading once the Dish offer was made public.

"The Dish proposal is only a preliminary indication of interest and is subject to numerous, material uncertainties and conditions, including the negotiation of multiple contractual arrangements being requested by Dish ... It is also subject to regulatory approval," Clearwire said in a statement.

Dish confirmed its offer in a separate statment.

"Dish Network Corp. confirmed today that it has formally approached Clearwire Corp. with respect to a potential strategic transaction on terms as generally outlined in the Clearwire release, including an offer to purchase all of the clearwire common shares."