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Exhibit 2.1
TRANSACTION
AGREEMENT
AND
PLAN OF
MERGER
among
CLEARWIRE
CORPORATION,
SPRINT NEXTEL
CORPORATION,
COMCAST
CORPORATION,
TIME WARNER CABLE
INC.,
BRIGHT HOUSE NETWORKS,
LLC,
GOOGLE
INC.,
AND
INTEL
CORPORATION
Dated as of May 7,
2008
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
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Page |
| ARTICLE 1 PRECEDENT TRANSACTIONS |
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4 |
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SECTION 1.1
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The
Formation Transactions |
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4 |
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SECTION 1.2
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Sprint
Financing Arrangements |
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5 |
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SECTION 1.3
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NewCo
Directors and Certain Other Matters |
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8 |
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| ARTICLE 2 THE MERGER |
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8 |
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SECTION 2.1
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The
Recapitalization |
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8 |
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SECTION 2.2
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The
Merger |
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8 |
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SECTION 2.3
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The
Closing |
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8 |
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SECTION 2.4
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Effective
Time |
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9 |
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SECTION 2.5
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Conversion
of Shares; Capitalization of NewCo LLC |
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9 |
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SECTION 2.6
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Surrender
and Payment |
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10 |
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SECTION 2.7
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Stock
Options |
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11 |
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SECTION 2.8
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Warrants |
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12 |
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SECTION 2.9
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Withholdings |
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12 |
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SECTION 2.10
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Lost
Certificates |
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12 |
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| ARTICLE 3 TRANSFER OF SPRINT ASSETS |
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13 |
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SECTION 3.1
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Transfer of
Sprint Assets |
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13 |
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SECTION 3.2
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Contribution
of the Transfer Entities |
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13 |
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SECTION 3.3
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Contribution
Consideration to NewCo LLC and NewCo |
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14 |
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SECTION 3.4
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Repayment |
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14 |
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SECTION 3.5
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Marketing
Funds |
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14 |
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| ARTICLE 4 INVESTMENTS |
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15 |
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SECTION 4.1
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Contributions of Certain Investors |
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15 |
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SECTION 4.2
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Google’s Purchase of Shares and NewCo Contribution to
NewCo LLC |
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15 |
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SECTION 4.3
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Post-Closing
Adjustment |
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16 |
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SECTION 4.4
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NewCo and
NewCo LLC Joinder |
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18 |
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SECTION 4.5
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Use of
Proceeds |
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18 |
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| ARTICLE 5 CLOSING DELIVERABLES |
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18 |
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SECTION 5.1
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Clearwire
Closing Deliverables |
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18 |
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SECTION 5.2
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Sprint
Closing Deliverables |
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20 |
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SECTION 5.3
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Investor
Closing Deliverables |
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22 |
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| ARTICLE 6 REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF
CLEARWIRE |
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22 |
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SECTION 6.1
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Organization; Authorization |
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23 |
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SECTION 6.2
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Non-Contravention |
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25 |
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SECTION 6.3
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Clearwire
Licenses |
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26 |
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SECTION 6.4
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Clearwire
Leases |
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27 |
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SECTION 6.5
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Clearwire
Network Assets |
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29 |
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SECTION 6.6
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Litigation |
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29 |
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SECTION 6.7
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Tax |
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30 |
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SECTION 6.8
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Clearwire
Contracts |
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32 |
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SECTION 6.9
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Compliance
with Law |
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32 |
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SECTION 6.10
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Required
Filings and Consents |
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33 |
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SECTION 6.11
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Clearwire
Non-FCC Licenses |
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33 |
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SECTION 6.12
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SEC
Documents; Financial Statements |
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33 |
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SECTION 6.13
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Capitalization; Subsidiaries |
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35 |
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SECTION 6.14
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Absence of
Certain Changes or Events |
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37 |
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SECTION 6.15
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Change of
Control Agreements |
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38 |
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SECTION 6.16
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Employee
Benefit Plans |
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38 |
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SECTION 6.17
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Labor and
Employment Matters |
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39 |
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SECTION 6.18
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Stockholders’ Rights Agreement; Antitakeover
Statutes |
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40 |
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SECTION 6.19
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Brokers |
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41 |
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SECTION 6.20
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Information
Supplied |
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41 |
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SECTION 6.21
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Certain
Ancillary Agreements |
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41 |
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| ARTICLE 7 REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF
SPRINT |
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42 |
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SECTION 7.1
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Organization; Authorization |
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42 |
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SECTION 7.2
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Non-Contravention |
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44 |
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SECTION 7.3
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Sprint
Licenses |
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45 |
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SECTION 7.4
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Sprint
Leases |
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46 |
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SECTION 7.5
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Sprint
Network Assets |
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48 |
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SECTION 7.6
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Litigation |
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49 |
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SECTION 7.7
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Tax |
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49 |
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SECTION 7.8
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Sprint
Contracts |
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50 |
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SECTION 7.9
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Compliance
with Law |
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51 |
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SECTION 7.10
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Required
Filings and Consents |
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51 |
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SECTION 7.11
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Sprint
Non-FCC Licenses |
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51 |
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SECTION 7.12
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Absence of
Certain Changes or Events |
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51 |
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SECTION 7.13
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Employee
Benefit Plans; Labor and Employment Matters |
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52 |
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SECTION 7.14
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No
Obligations |
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52 |
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SECTION 7.15
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Brokers |
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52 |
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SECTION 7.16
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Information
Supplied |
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52 |
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SECTION 7.17
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Ownership of
Clearwire Capital Stock |
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52 |
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SECTION 7.18
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Certain
Ancillary Agreements |
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53 |
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| ARTICLE 8 REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF THE
INVESTORS |
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53 |
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SECTION 8.1
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Organization; Authorization |
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53 |
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SECTION 8.2
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Non-Contravention |
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53 |
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SECTION 8.3
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Securities
Act; Investigation |
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54 |
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SECTION 8.4
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Availability
of Funds |
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54 |
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SECTION 8.5
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Required
Filings and Consents |
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54 |
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SECTION 8.6
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Brokers |
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54 |
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SECTION 8.7
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Information
Supplied |
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55 |
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SECTION 8.8
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Ownership of
Clearwire Capital Stock |
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55 |
ii
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SECTION 8.9
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Certain
Ancillary Agreements |
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55 |
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| ARTICLE 9 CONDITIONS TO CLOSING |
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55 |
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SECTION 9.1
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Conditions
to Each Party’s Obligations |
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55 |
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SECTION 9.2
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Conditions
to Obligations of Sprint |
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57 |
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SECTION 9.3
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Conditions
to Obligations of Clearwire |
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58 |
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SECTION 9.4
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Conditions
to Obligations of the Investors |
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59 |
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SECTION 9.5
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Frustration
of Closing Conditions |
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62 |
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| ARTICLE 10 COVENANTS OF THE PARTIES |
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62 |
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SECTION 10.1
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Conduct of
Business |
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62 |
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SECTION 10.2
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Access;
Records Confidentiality |
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73 |
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SECTION 10.3
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Further
Assurances |
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75 |
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SECTION 10.4
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No
Solicitation |
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79 |
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SECTION 10.5
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Stockholder
Litigation |
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83 |
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SECTION 10.6
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Director and
Officer Indemnification |
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83 |
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SECTION 10.7
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Clearwire
Stockholders’ Meeting |
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84 |
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SECTION 10.8
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Proxy
Statement; Registration Statement |
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85 |
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SECTION 10.9
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Notices of
Certain Events |
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87 |
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SECTION 10.10
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Public
Announcements |
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88 |
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SECTION 10.11
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Transfer
Taxes |
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89 |
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SECTION 10.12
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Consistent
Tax Reporting |
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89 |
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SECTION 10.13
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No Purchase
of Clearwire Capital Stock |
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89 |
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SECTION 10.14
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Transaction
Related Agreements |
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90 |
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SECTION 10.15
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Pending
Party Litigation |
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90 |
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SECTION 10.16
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Pre-Existing
Intel Agreements |
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90 |
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SECTION 10.17
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Sprint WiMAX
Inventory |
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91 |
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SECTION 10.18
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Sprint
Future Credit Agreements |
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91 |
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SECTION 10.19
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Certain
Financing Matters |
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91 |
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SECTION 10.20
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3G MVNO
Agreement |
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92 |
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| ARTICLE 11 EMPLOYEES |
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92 |
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SECTION 11.1
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Transfer of
Employees |
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92 |
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SECTION 11.2
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Employee
Information and Employment Taxes |
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92 |
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SECTION 11.3
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Service and
Other Credit |
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93 |
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| ARTICLE 12 TERMINATION |
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95 |
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SECTION 12.1
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Termination |
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95 |
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SECTION 12.2
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Effect of
Termination |
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97 |
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| ARTICLE 13 INDEMNIFICATION |
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97 |
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SECTION 13.1
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Indemnification by Sprint |
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97 |
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SECTION 13.2
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Indemnification Procedures |
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98 |
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SECTION 13.3
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Limitation
of Liability |
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99 |
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SECTION 13.4
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Claims
Period |
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99 |
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SECTION 13.5
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Additional
Indemnification by Sprint |
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100 |
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SECTION 13.6
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Exclusion of
Other Remedies |
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100 |
iii
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| ARTICLE 14 MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS |
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100 |
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SECTION 14.1
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Notices |
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100 |
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SECTION 14.2
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Schedules
and Exhibits |
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104 |
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SECTION 14.3
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Assignment;
Successors in Interest |
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104 |
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SECTION 14.4
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Controlling
Law; Amendment |
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104 |
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SECTION 14.5
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Jurisdiction |
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104 |
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SECTION 14.6
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Specific
Performance and Other Remedies |
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105 |
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SECTION 14.7
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Severability |
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105 |
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SECTION 14.8
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Counterparts |
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105 |
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SECTION 14.9
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Enforcement
of Certain Rights |
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105 |
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SECTION 14.10
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Waiver |
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105 |
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SECTION 14.11
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Non-Survival
of Representations and Warranties and Agreements |
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105 |
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SECTION 14.12
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Integration |
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106 |
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SECTION 14.13
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Cooperation
Following the Closing |
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106 |
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SECTION 14.14
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Fees |
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106 |
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SECTION 14.15
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Waiver of
Jury Trial |
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107 |
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SECTION 14.16
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Investor
Rights and Obligations |
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107 |
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SECTION 14.17
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Interpretation |
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107 |
iv
EXHIBITS
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EXHIBIT A
EXHIBIT B
EXHIBIT C
EXHIBIT D
EXHIBIT E
EXHIBIT F
EXHIBIT G
EXHIBIT H
EXHIBIT I
EXHIBIT J
EXHIBIT K
EXHIBIT L
EXHIBIT M
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DEFINITIONS
CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION OF NEWCO,
INC.
BYLAWS OF NEWCO, INC.
INITIAL LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY
AGREEMENT OF NEWCO LLC
AMENDED AND RESTATED LIMITED LIABILITY
COMPANY AGREEMENT OF NEWCO LLC
LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY AGREEMENT OF
CLEARWIRE SUB LLC
LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY AGREEMENT OF
SPRINT SUB LLC
REGISTRATION RIGHTS AGREEMENT
EQUITYHOLDERS’
AGREEMENT
ASSUMED NOTE
OTHER MATTERS
TERMS OF SECURED NOTE
REVISED STRUCTURE
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v
THIS TRANSACTION AGREEMENT
AND PLAN OF MERGER (this “ Agreement ”) is made
and entered into as of May 7, 2008 (the “ Execution
Date ”) by and among Clearwire Corporation, a Delaware
corporation (“ Clearwire ”), Sprint Nextel
Corporation, a Kansas corporation (“ Sprint ”),
Comcast Corporation, a Pennsylvania corporation (“
Comcast ”), Time Warner Cable Inc., a Delaware
corporation (“ TWC ”), Bright House Networks,
LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“ BHN
”), Google Inc., a Delaware corporation (“
Google ”), and Intel Corporation, a Delaware
corporation (“ Intel ”), and together with
Comcast, TWC, BHN and Google, the “ Investors ”;
the Investors, Sprint and Clearwire are referred to herein as the
“ Parties ”). Capitalized terms not otherwise
defined in this Agreement have the meanings ascribed to those terms
in Exhibit A attached to this Agreement.
RECITALS
A. The Parties desire to
(i) foster the development of a nationwide wireless broadband
network (the “ Wireless Broadband Network ”);
(ii) expedite the commercial availability of wireless
broadband services over the Wireless Broadband Network;
(iii) enable the offering of a greater depth and breadth of
wireless broadband services; and (iv) promote wireless
broadband development.
B. In order to satisfy the
foregoing objectives Sprint and Clearwire desire to combine their
respective WiMAX Businesses and the Investors desire to invest
capital and enter into certain commercial arrangements as
follows:
(i) Clearwire will form a
wholly owned Delaware corporation (“ NewCo
”);
(ii) NewCo will form a wholly
owned Delaware limited liability company (“ NewCo LLC
”) that is, and at all times prior to the Closing will have
been, treated as a disregarded entity for U.S. federal income tax
purposes;
(iii) NewCo LLC in turn will
form a wholly owned Delaware limited liability company (“
Clearwire Sub LLC ”) that is, and at all times prior
to the Closing will have been, treated as a disregarded entity for
U.S. federal income tax purposes;
(iv) the outstanding Class B
common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of Clearwire (“
Clearwire Class B Common Stock ”) will be converted
into Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of
Clearwire (“ Clearwire Class A Common Stock
”);
(v) Clearwire will merge with
and into Clearwire Sub LLC, pursuant to which the shareholders of
Clearwire will exchange their Clearwire Class A Common Stock
for Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, in
NewCo (“ Class A Common Stock ”);
1
(vi) Sprint will cause to be
formed a wholly owned Delaware limited liability company (“
Sprint HoldCo LLC ”), which in turn will form a wholly
owned Delaware limited liability company (“ Sprint Sub
LLC ”), that is, and at all times prior to the Closing
will have been, a disregarded entity for U.S. federal income tax
purposes;
(vii) Sprint will cause one
or more wholly owned companies (referred to herein and as defined
below, the “ Transfer Entities ”) to hold the
Sprint WiMAX Business and will cause all the Transfer Entities to
be limited liability companies that are treated as disregarded
entities for U.S. federal income tax purposes immediately prior to
and as of the Closing in accordance with the terms of this
Agreement;
(viii) Sprint and its
Subsidiaries will contribute all of the limited liability company
interests in each of the Transfer Entities to Sprint HoldCo LLC,
which in turn will contribute these interests to Sprint Sub LLC,
and Sprint Sub LLC will assume the Sprint Pre-Closing Financing in
accordance with the terms of this Agreement;
(ix) following both the
completion of the merger of Clearwire with and into Clearwire Sub
LLC and the contribution of the Transfer Entities to Sprint Sub LLC
(a) Sprint will cause Sprint HoldCo LLC to contribute all of
the limited liability company interests of Sprint Sub LLC to NewCo
LLC in exchange for non-voting membership interests in NewCo LLC
and to purchase an equal number of shares of Class B common stock,
par value $0.0001 per share, in NewCo (“ Class B Common
Stock ”) and (b) Sprint and certain of its
Subsidiaries will enter into certain commercial agreements with
NewCo LLC;
(x) following completion of
the merger of Clearwire with and into Clearwire Sub LLC and the
consummation of the transactions described in clause (ix)(a) above,
Comcast, TWC, BHN and Intel will contribute $2.7 billion in the
aggregate to NewCo LLC in exchange for voting and non-voting
membership interests in NewCo LLC and will enter into certain
commercial agreements with NewCo LLC;
(xi) following completion of
the merger of Clearwire with and into Clearwire Sub LLC and the
consummation of the transactions described in clause (ix)(a) above,
Google will contribute $500,000,000 to NewCo in exchange for
Class A Common Stock;
(xii) immediately following
the purchase by Sprint HoldCo LLC of Class B Common Stock in NewCo
as described in clause (ix)(a) above, NewCo will contribute the
cash that it receives from Sprint HoldCo LLC to NewCo LLC in
exchange for voting membership interests in NewCo LLC;
(xiii) immediately following
the receipt by the Investors of voting and non-voting membership
interests in NewCo LLC as described in clause (x) above, each
of Comcast, TWC, BHN and Intel will contribute to NewCo its voting
membership interests in NewCo LLC for Class B Common Stock in
NewCo; and
2
(xiv) immediately following
the purchase by Google of Class A Common Stock in NewCo as
described in clause (xi) above, NewCo will contribute the cash
that it receives from Google to NewCo LLC in exchange for voting
membership interests and nonvoting membership interests in NewCo
LLC,
in each case according to the
terms set forth in this Agreement.
C. Sprint and Clearwire have
entered into a voting agreement with each of Eagle River Holdings,
LLC, a Washington limited liability company (“ Eagle
River ”), and Intel under which Eagle River and Intel
have agreed, among other things, to vote their shares of Clearwire
Capital Stock in favor of the Merger in the amounts and under the
circumstances described in the respective voting
agreements.
D. NewCo and its Subsidiaries
will provide broad benefits to consumers, businesses, educators,
governments and public safety users by fostering quicker, broader
and more efficient deployment of a nationwide mobile wireless
broadband network than either Sprint or Clearwire believes it could
accomplish on its own.
E. NewCo LLC and Intel have
agreed to enter into the Intel Agreement at the Closing to, among
other things, accelerate and facilitate the development of a
nationwide mobile wireless broadband network and devices using
WiMAX.
F. The Parties intend that
for U.S. federal income tax purposes, (i) the conversion of
the outstanding Clearwire Class B Common Stock into Clearwire
Class A Common Stock will qualify as a reorganization within
the meaning of Section 368(a)(1)(E) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986, as amended (the “ Code ”), and a
transaction governed by Section 1036 of the Code; and
(ii) the Merger of Clearwire with and into Clearwire Sub LLC
in accordance with the terms set forth in this Agreement will
qualify as a reorganization within the meaning of
Section 368(a)(1)(F) of the Code.
G. The Parties intend that
for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the contributions by NewCo,
Sprint and the Investors (other than Google) to NewCo LLC will
convert NewCo LLC from a disregarded entity into a partnership for
U.S. federal income tax purposes, to which partnership NewCo,
Sprint (through Sprint HoldCo LLC) and each such Investor will be
treated as having contributed assets in a transaction qualifying
for nonrecognition under Section 721 of the Code.
H. Sprint intends that, while
the Merger of Clearwire with and into Clearwire Sub LLC will
qualify separately as a reorganization described in
Section 368(a)(1)(F) of the Code, the Merger also will be part
of a larger transaction involving the transfers by Sprint HoldCo
LLC and the Investors to NewCo in exchange for NewCo Capital Stock,
with the result that the larger transaction will qualify as an
exchange described in Section 351 of the Code.
3
NOW, THEREFORE, in
consideration of the foregoing recitals and of the mutual promises
set forth in this Agreement, the Parties to this Agreement and by
this Agreement agree as follows:
ARTICLE 1
PRECEDENT
TRANSACTIONS
SECTION 1.1 The Formation
Transactions . Before the Closing Date, the following will have
occurred:
(a) Incorporation of
NewCo . Clearwire will incorporate NewCo, and Clearwire will
take, and will cause NewCo to take, all actions necessary so that,
as of the Closing Date, NewCo’s certificate of incorporation
and bylaws will be in the form attached as Exhibits B and
C , respectively; and
(b) Formation of NewCo
LLC . Clearwire will cause NewCo to form NewCo LLC. For all
periods following the formation and until the consummation of the
transactions described in Sections 3.3 and 4.1, NewCo LLC will be
governed by the terms of the limited liability company operating
agreement of NewCo LLC in the form attached as Exhibit D
(the “ Initial NewCo LLC Agreement ”). Clearwire
will take, and will cause NewCo and NewCo LLC to take, all actions
necessary so that (i) NewCo LLC is an entity disregarded as
separate from NewCo for U.S. federal income tax purposes until the
consummation of the transactions described in Sections 3.3 and 4.1
and (ii) as of the Closing Date and following the Merger,
NewCo LLC’s limited liability company operating agreement is
amended and restated in the form attached as Exhibit E (the “
NewCo LLC Agreement ”).
(c) Formation of Clearwire
Sub LLC . Clearwire will cause NewCo LLC to form Clearwire Sub
LLC, and Clearwire will take, and will cause NewCo, NewCo LLC and
Clearwire Sub LLC to take, all actions necessary so that
(i) Clearwire Sub LLC at all times since its formation will
have been, and as of the Closing will be, an entity disregarded as
separate from NewCo and NewCo LLC for U.S. federal income tax
purposes and (ii) as of the Closing Date and following the
Merger, Clearwire Sub LLC’s limited liability company
operating agreement will be in the form attached as Exhibit
F .
(d) Formation of Sprint
HoldCo LLC and Sprint Sub LLC . Sprint will cause the formation
of Sprint HoldCo LLC and cause Sprint HoldCo LLC to form Sprint Sub
LLC, and Sprint will take, and will cause Sprint HoldCo LLC and
Sprint Sub LLC to take, all actions necessary so that
(i) Sprint Sub LLC at all times since its formation will have
been, and immediately prior to the Closing will be, an entity
disregarded as separate from Sprint HoldCo LLC for U.S. federal
income tax purposes until the LLC Contribution and (ii) as of
the Closing Date, Sprint Sub LLC’s limited liability company
operating agreement will be in the form attached as Exhibit
G .
4
SECTION 1.2 Sprint
Financing Arrangements .
(a) Sprint will, or will
cause one or more of its Subsidiaries to, finance the Sprint WiMAX
Business between April 1, 2008 and the Closing Date (the
“ Sprint Pre-Closing Financing ”), with Sprint
Sub LLC to assume the obligation to repay Sprint (or its applicable
Subsidiaries) in respect of the Sprint Pre-Closing Financing prior
to the LLC Contribution; provided that (i) Sprint Sub
LLC shall not assume, and Sprint shall retain and be responsible
for, (x) any portion of the Sprint Pre-Closing Financing that
was not incurred to fund the Sprint WiMAX Business, (y) the
principal amount of the Sprint Pre-Closing Financing in excess of
the total amounts set forth below each month on the Sprint Budget
that has elapsed through and including the month in which the
Closing occurs and (z) any amount of the Sprint Pre-Closing
Financing to the extent such amount was incurred to fund the Sprint
WiMAX Business but was not incurred in substantial compliance in
the aggregate with the Sprint Budget ( provided that, for
purposes of this clause (z), spending a lesser amount on the Sprint
WiMAX Business than is provided in the Sprint Budget will not
constitute substantial non-compliance in the aggregate with the
Sprint Budget), and (ii) the terms of the financing to be
assumed by Sprint Sub LLC shall be as set forth in Exhibit J
(the “ Assumed Note ”). For the avoidance of
doubt, interest shall accrue on any amounts of Sprint Pre-Closing
Financing in accordance with the terms of the Assumed Note
beginning on the date that any such financing is provided by Sprint
as provided by this Section 1.2(a) through but excluding the
Sprint Pre-Closing Financing Repayment Date (as defined
below).
(b) NewCo and NewCo LLC will
cause the Sprint Pre-Closing Financing, together with any interest
accrued thereon, to be repaid on the first Business Day following
the Closing (the “ Sprint Pre-Closing Financing Repayment
Date ”). A portion of the Sprint Pre-Closing Financing
will be repaid in cash by wire transfer to Sprint in immediately
available funds (the “ Cash Payment ”) with the
remaining portion of the Sprint Pre-Closing Financing being repaid
with the issuance of a secured promissory note by Sprint Sub LLC to
Sprint (the terms of which note and related agreements shall be
substantially as set forth on Exhibit L ) (the “
Secured Note ”). Subject to the following sentence
(and subject to any changes in the following amounts as a result of
any refinancing of the Credit Agreement on or prior to the Sprint
Pre-Closing Refinancing Repayment Date, as described in Exhibit L)
and disregarding any interest accrued on the Sprint Pre-Closing
Financing, if the amount of the Sprint Pre-Closing Financing is
(i) less than or equal to $213 million, then the Cash Payment
will equal the amount of the Sprint Pre-Closing Financing;
(ii) greater than $213 million but less than or equal to $426
million, then the Cash Payment will equal $213 million and the
principal amount of the Secured Note will equal the remaining
amount of the Sprint Pre-Closing Financing or (iii) greater
than $426 million, then the Cash Payment and the principal amount
of the Secured Note will each equal 50% of the Sprint Pre-Closing
Financing. All interest that has accrued on the Sprint Pre-Closing
Financing in accordance with the terms of the Assumed Note between
April 1, 2008 and the Sprint Pre-Closing Financing Repayment
Date (the “ Pre-Closing Accrued Interest ”) will
be paid to Sprint on the Sprint Pre-Closing Financing Repayment
Date in a combination of cash and added principal to the Secured
Note in the same proportion as the Cash Payment and the Secured
Note.
(c) For a period of 45 days
after the Closing Date, Sprint will, and will cause its
Subsidiaries to promptly afford NewCo, NewCo LLC and their
respective employees,
5
accountants and legal counsel
such assistance and access to the books, records, work papers and
personnel of Sprint and its Subsidiaries during normal business
hours as is reasonably requested by NewCo or NewCo LLC, for the
purposes of reviewing the Sprint Pre-Closing Financing assumed by
Sprint Sub LLC prior to the LLC Contribution (the “
Post-Closing Verification Period ”); provided
that the Post-Closing Verification Period will be extended as
appropriate if Sprint does not provide NewCo, NewCo LLC and such
representatives such access for such 45-day period. In the event
that NewCo or NewCo LLC in good faith determines that any item or
amount of the Sprint Pre-Closing Financing was assumed by Sprint
Sub LLC in violation of Section 1.2(a), NewCo or NewCo LLC
shall have the right to dispute such item or amount by delivering
written notice thereof (the “ Objection ”) to
Sprint on or before the last day of the Post-Closing Verification
Period, which notice shall set forth in reasonable detail the basis
for its objection(s). Following the receipt of the Objection by
Sprint, NewCo and NewCo LLC, on the one hand, and Sprint, on the
other hand, shall seek in good faith to resolve any differences
which they may have with respect to the matters specified in the
Objection. If such Parties are not able to resolve all of the
differences specified in the Objection within 30 days after the
Objection is received by Sprint, either NewCo or NewCo LLC, on the
one hand, or Sprint, on the other hand, may submit the remaining
differences to a mutually acceptable and nationally recognized
independent accounting firm (who shall not have any material
relationship with Sprint or NewCo) (the “ Accounting
Referee ”), to review this Agreement and the remaining
disputed item(s) or amount(s) for the purpose of determining
whether such item(s) or amount(s) were assumed by Sprint Sub LLC in
violation of Section 1.2(a) (it being understood that, to the
extent appropriate, the Accounting Referee shall utilize employees
of its firm with substantial telecommunications expertise). The
Accounting Referee shall deliver to NewCo, NewCo LLC and Sprint, as
promptly as practicable, a report setting forth its written
determination of the remaining disputed item(s) or amount(s). Such
report shall be final and binding upon NewCo, NewCo LLC and Sprint.
The cost of such review and report shall be borne by NewCo LLC. For
purposes of this Section 1.2(c), (i) all action taken by
NewCo or NewCo LLC shall be determined and directed by the senior
management of NewCo unless such action requires action on the part
of the NewCo Board of Directors, in which case such action shall be
determined and directed by the members of the NewCo Board of
Directors other than the Sprint Designees (as such term is defined
in the Equityholders’ Agreement) and (ii) the Sprint
Designees will recuse themselves from all consideration of these
matters.
(d) If it is determined in
accordance with Section 1.2(c), whether by agreement of NewCo,
NewCo LLC and Sprint, or in the absence of such agreement, by the
Accounting Referee, that the aggregate Sprint Pre-Closing Financing
assumed by Sprint Sub LLC prior to the LLC Contribution is in
excess of the amount that should have been so assumed (such excess
amount, the “ Reimbursement Amount ”), then, if
the Sprint Pre-Closing Financing was less than or equal to $426
million, the principal amount of the Secured Note (if the Secured
Note has been issued pursuant to Section 1.2(b)) will be
reduced by the Reimbursement Amount and, if the Reimbursement
Amount is greater than the principal amount of the Secured Note, or
if the Secured Note has not been issued pursuant to
Section 1.2(b), Sprint shall, promptly after the date of such
determination (but in no event later than two Business Days
thereafter), pay to Sprint Sub LLC the
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remaining portion of the
Reimbursement Amount in cash by wire transfer of immediately
available funds to a bank account designated by NewCo LLC. If the
Sprint Pre-Closing Financing was greater than $426 million, then
Sprint will pay 50% of the Reimbursement Amount to Sprint Sub LLC
in cash in the manner provided in the immediately preceding
sentence and the principal amount of the Secured Note will be
reduced by 50% of the Reimbursement Amount (but not below zero);
provided that in no event will such cash payment by Sprint
reduce the net Cash Payment below $213 million unless the principal
amount of the Secured Note has been reduced to zero, in which case
Sprint will pay to Sprint Sub LLC any remaining portion of the
Reimbursement Amount in cash as set forth in this
Section 1.2(d).
(e) Upon the repayment
(whether in cash or in a reduction in principal amount of the
Secured Note) of the Reimbursement Amount, if applicable, Sprint
will be required to repay to Sprint Sub LLC an amount of the
Pre-Closing Accrued Interest equal to all interest that accrued in
respect of the Reimbursement Amount from the date of incurrence
through but excluding the Sprint Pre-Closing Financing Repayment
Date in accordance with the Sprint Pre-Closing Financing. Any
Pre-Closing Accrued Interest that is required to be repaid will be
repaid in a combination of cash and reduction in principal amount
of the Secured Note in the same proportion as the Reimbursement
Amount. Any reduction in the principal amount of the Secured Note
pursuant to this Section 1.2(e) will be effective as of the
Sprint Pre-Closing Financing Repayment Date.
(f) In addition, (i) the
portion of the Reimbursement Amount that Sprint is required to
repay in cash and (ii) the interest, if any, paid by Sprint
Sub LLC to Sprint pursuant to the Secured Note with respect to the
portion of the Reimbursement Amount for which the Secured Note is
reduced pursuant to Section 1.2(e), shall bear interest for
each Interest Period from and including (x) in the case of
clause (i), the Sprint Pre-Closing Financing Repayment Date and
(y) in the case of clause (ii), the date on which any such
interest was paid, to but excluding the date of payment pursuant to
Section 1.2(d) at a rate per annum equal to LIBOR plus 250
basis points. Such interest shall be payable at the same time as
the payment to which it relates and shall be calculated daily on
the basis of a year of 360 days and the actual number of days
elapsed. Any interest that is required to be repaid on the
Reimbursement Amount will be repaid in a combination of cash and
reduction in principal amount of the Secured Note in the same
proportion as the Reimbursement Amount.
(g) If, as of
December 1, 2008, it appears that the Closing may not occur by
December 31, 2008, to the extent permitted by Law, the Parties
shall work in good faith to modify the Sprint Budget to address the
period after December 31, 2008 through the anticipated Closing
Date. The budget for the post-December 31, 2008 period shall
include (i) expenditures necessary or appropriate for the
maintenance and continuation of the Sprint WiMAX Business as
operated from April 1, 2008 through December 31, 2008 and
(ii) if agreed by the Parties acting in good faith, additional
expenditures for the further expansion of the Sprint WiMAX Business
(it being understood that such budget will be developed with a view
toward maintaining a cost structure that is as low as reasonably
practicable consistent with the foregoing principles). If, 30 days
prior to any date through which the Sprint Budget has been modified
in accordance with this
7
Section 1.2(g), it
appears that the Closing may not occur by the previous anticipated
Closing Date, to the extent permitted by Law, the parties hereto
shall again work in good faith to modify the Sprint Budget to
address the period through the then-anticipated Closing Date in
accordance with the preceding sentence. If the Sprint Budget is
modified in accordance with this Section 1.2(g), all
references to the Sprint Budget in this Agreement shall be deemed
to be references to the Sprint Budget as so modified.
SECTION 1.3 NewCo
Directors and Certain Other Matters . Immediately following the
Closing, the members of the board of directors of NewCo will be
determined as set forth in the Equityholders’ Agreement in
substantially the form attached as Exhibit I hereto (the
“ Equityholders’ Agreement ”). In
addition, certain other matters with respect to NewCo after the
Closing are set forth on Exhibit K .
ARTICLE 2
THE MERGER
SECTION 2.1 The
Recapitalization . As soon as practicable after satisfaction
or, to the extent permitted under this Agreement, waiver of all
conditions set forth in Article 9 (the “ Closing
Conditions ”) (excluding conditions that by their nature
cannot be satisfied until the Closing), and prior to the Effective
Time, all outstanding shares of Clearwire Class B Common Stock will
be converted into and exchanged for a corresponding number of
shares of Clearwire Class A Common Stock (the “
Recapitalization ”).
SECTION 2.2 The Merger
. At the Effective Time, Clearwire will be merged (the “
Merger ”) with and into Clearwire Sub LLC in
accordance with the Delaware General Corporation Law (“
DGCL ”) and the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act
(the “ DLLC ” and, together with the DGCL,
“ Delaware Law ”), at which time the separate
existence of Clearwire will cease, Clearwire Sub LLC will be the
surviving entity (the “ Surviving Entity ”) and
a wholly owned, direct Subsidiary of NewCo LLC, which, in turn,
will be a wholly owned, direct Subsidiary of NewCo. From and after
the Effective Time, the Surviving Entity will possess all of the
rights, powers, privileges and franchises and be subject to all of
the obligations, liabilities, restrictions and disabilities of
Clearwire, all as provided under Delaware Law.
SECTION 2.3 The
Closing . Unless this Agreement has been earlier terminated in
accordance with Section 12.1, and on the terms and subject to
the next sentence and to the conditions set forth in Article 9, the
closing of the transactions contemplated by Article 3 and Article 4
(the “ Closing ”) will take place as soon as
practicable, but (i) in no event until after the
Recapitalization and the Merger and (ii) subject to clause
(i) above, on the last Business Day of the calendar month in
which satisfaction or waiver of the Closing Conditions occurs
(excluding conditions that by their nature cannot be satisfied
until the Closing), or another time and date that the Parties agree
to in writing. Clearwire will provide notice to the Parties that,
in its view, the Closing is reasonably likely to occur (x) at
least 10 Business Days prior to the anticipated Closing Date if the
anticipated Closing Date is within six months of the Execution Date
and (y) at least five Business Days prior to the Closing Date
if the anticipated Closing Date is beyond six months following the
Closing Date. The Closing will be held at the New York offices of
King & Spalding LLP at 10:00 a.m. local time unless
another place is agreed to in writing by the Parties. All actions
taken at the Closing will be deemed to have been taken
contemporaneously, but in the order specified in this
Agreement.
8
SECTION 2.4 Effective
Time . As soon as practicable after satisfaction or, to the
extent permitted under this Agreement, waiver of all Closing
Conditions and consummation of the Recapitalization, Clearwire will
file a certificate of merger (the “ Certificate of
Merger ”) with the Delaware Secretary of State in the
form required by and executed and completed in accordance with the
relevant provisions of Delaware Law and make all other filings or
recordings required by Delaware Law to effect the Merger. The
Merger will become effective on the date and at the time the
Certificate of Merger is filed with the Delaware Secretary of State
(or at a later date and time specified, if any, in the Certificate
of Merger). The time when the Merger will become effective is
referred to as the “ Effective Time.
”
SECTION 2.5 Conversion of
Shares; Capitalization of NewCo LLC . At the Effective Time, by
virtue of the Merger and without any other action on part of the
holders of the shares:
(a) each share of Clearwire
Class A Common Stock and each Clearwire restricted stock unit
will be canceled and retired and cease to exist and will be
converted into the right to receive one share of Class A
Common Stock (the “ Merger Consideration ”);
except that to the extent that any shares of Class A Common
Stock are issued in exchange for unvested restricted Clearwire
Class A Common Stock or any unvested Clearwire restricted
stock units that were granted to Clearwire employees under
Clearwire Stock Option Plans or otherwise, those shares of
Class A Common Stock will continue to have substantially the
same terms and conditions as applied to the corresponding
restricted shares or restricted stock units immediately before the
Effective Time;
(b) All shares of Clearwire
Class A Common Stock that are held by Clearwire as treasury
stock prior to the Effective Time will be canceled and retired and
cease to exist and no Merger Consideration will be delivered in
exchange therefor;
(c) Each membership interest
of Clearwire Sub LLC issued and outstanding prior to the Effective
Time shall remain outstanding and shall constitute the only issued
and outstanding equity interests of the Surviving Entity
immediately after the Effective Time;
(d) NewCo LLC will issue to
NewCo a number of Voting Units and Class A Common Units so
that NewCo holds a number of Voting Units and Class A Common
Units in NewCo LLC equal to the number of shares of Clearwire
Class A Common Stock outstanding after the Recapitalization
and immediately prior to the Effective Time pursuant to the terms
of the Initial NewCo LLC Agreement; and
(e) The outstanding shares of
common stock of NewCo held by Clearwire immediately prior to the
Effective Time will be canceled at the Effective Time.
9
SECTION 2.6 Surrender and
Payment .
(a) Clearwire has appointed
the Exchange Agent for the purpose of exchanging the Merger
Consideration for:
(i) certificates representing
shares of Clearwire Capital Stock (the “ Certificates
”) or
(ii) uncertificated shares of
Clearwire Capital Stock (the “ Uncertificated Shares
”).
Promptly after the Closing
Date, NewCo will send, or will cause the Exchange Agent to send, to
each holder of shares of Clearwire Capital Stock at the Effective
Time a letter of transmittal and instructions that will specify
that the delivery will be effected, and risk of loss and title will
pass, only on proper delivery of the Certificates or transfer of
the Uncertificated Shares to the Exchange Agent.
(b) Each holder of shares of
Clearwire Capital Stock will be entitled to receive, on
(i) surrender to the Exchange
Agent of a Certificate, together with a properly completed letter
of transmittal, or
(ii) receipt of an
“agent’s message” by the Exchange Agent (or other
evidence, if any, of transfer as the Exchange Agent may reasonably
request) in the case of a book-entry transfer of Uncertificated
Shares,
the aggregate Merger
Consideration that the holder has a right to receive under
Section 2.5. The shares of Class A Common Stock
constituting the Merger Consideration will be in uncertificated
book-entry form, unless a physical certificate is requested by the
holder or is otherwise required under applicable Law. As a result
of the Merger, at the Effective Time, all shares of Clearwire
Capital Stock will cease to be outstanding and each holder of
Clearwire Capital Stock will cease to have any rights with respect
to the Clearwire Capital Stock, except the right to receive the
Merger Consideration payable in respect of the Clearwire Capital
Stock.
(c) If any portion of the
Merger Consideration is to be paid to a Person other than the
Person in whose name the surrendered Certificate or the transferred
Uncertificated Share is registered, it will be a condition to the
payment that
(i) either the surrendered
Certificate will be properly endorsed or will otherwise be in
proper form for transfer or the applicable Uncertificated Share
will be properly transferred, and
(ii) the Person requesting
the payment will pay to the Exchange Agent any transfer or other
Taxes required as a result of the payment to a Person other than
the registered holder of the Certificate or Uncertificated Share or
establish to the satisfaction of the Exchange Agent that the Tax
has been paid or is not payable.
10
(d) After the Effective Time,
there will be no further registration of transfers of shares of
Clearwire Capital Stock. If, after the Effective Time, Certificates
or Uncertificated Shares are presented to NewCo, they will be
canceled and exchanged for the Merger Consideration payable in
respect of the Clearwire Capital Stock provided for, and in
accordance with the procedures set forth, in this Article
2.
(e) Any portion of the Merger
Consideration made available to the Exchange Agent under
Section 2.6(a) that remains unclaimed by the holders of shares
of Clearwire Capital Stock twelve months after the Closing Date
will be returned to NewCo, on demand. Any holder who has not
exchanged shares of Clearwire Capital Stock for the Merger
Consideration in accordance with this Section 2.6 before that
date will look only to NewCo for payment of the Merger
Consideration, and any dividends and distributions with respect to
the Merger Consideration, in respect of those shares without any
interest thereon. Regardless of the preceding sentence, NewCo will
not be liable to any holder of shares of Clearwire Capital Stock
for any amounts properly paid to a public official under applicable
abandoned property, escheat or similar Laws. Any amounts remaining
unclaimed by holders of shares of Clearwire Capital Stock six years
after the Closing Date (or that earlier date, immediately before
the time when the amounts would otherwise escheat to or become
property of any Governmental Authority) will become, to the extent
permitted by applicable Law, the property of NewCo, free and clear
of any claims or interest of any Person previously entitled
thereto.
SECTION 2.7 Stock
Options .
(a) The terms of each
outstanding compensatory option under any agreement, plan or
arrangement of Clearwire (the “ Clearwire Stock Option
Plans ”) to purchase shares of Clearwire Class A
Common Stock (a “ Clearwire Stock Option ”),
whether or not exercisable or vested, shall be adjusted as
necessary to provide that, at the Effective Time, each Clearwire
Stock Option outstanding immediately before the Effective Time will
be converted into an option to acquire, on the same terms and
conditions as were applicable under that Clearwire Stock Option,
the same number of whole shares of Class A Common Stock
(rounded down to the nearest whole share) as the holder of the
Clearwire Stock Option would have been entitled to receive under
the Merger had the holder exercised the Clearwire Stock Option in
full immediately before the Effective Time, at a price per share
(rounded up to the nearest whole cent) equal to:
(i) the aggregate exercise
price for the shares of Clearwire Class A Common Stock
otherwise purchasable under the Clearwire Stock Option divided
by
(ii) the aggregate number of
whole shares of Class A Common Stock deemed purchasable under
the Clearwire Stock Option as adjusted, rounded up to the nearest
whole cent; provided , however , if the above
described conversion process fails to satisfy the requirements of
Section 409A of the Code, the conversions shall be effected so
as to comply with Section 409A of the Code.
11
(b) Before the Effective
Time, Clearwire will make any amendments to the terms of the
Clearwire Stock Option Plans and the Clearwire Stock Options that
are necessary, and will take any other actions that are necessary,
to give effect to the adjustments contemplated by this
Section 2.7.
(c) NewCo will take whatever
actions necessary for or otherwise material to the assumption of
Clearwire Stock Options under this Section 2.7, including the
reservation, issuance and listing of NewCo Capital Stock as is
necessary to effectuate the transactions contemplated by this
Section 2.7. NewCo will prepare and file with the SEC a
registration statement on an appropriate form, or a post-effective
amendment to a registration statement previously filed under the
Securities Act, with respect to the shares of Class A Common
Stock subject to Clearwire Stock Options.
(d) Clearwire and NewCo shall
take all reasonable steps as may be required to cause the
transactions contemplated by Section 2.7 and any other
acquisition of NewCo equity securities or dispositions of Clearwire
equity securities (including derivative securities) in connection
with this Agreement by each individual who is a director or officer
of Clearwire to be exempt under Rule 16b-3 promulgated under the
Exchange Act, such steps to be taken in accordance with the
Interpretive Letter dated January 12, 1999, issued by the SEC
relating to Rule 16b-3.
SECTION 2.8 Warrants .
At the Effective Time, each warrant to purchase shares of Clearwire
Class A Common Stock (a “ Clearwire Warrant
”), whether or not exercisable or vested, outstanding
immediately prior to the Effective Time under any agreement, plan
or arrangement of Clearwire (the “ Clearwire Warrant
Agreements ”) will be deemed to constitute a warrant to
acquire, on the same terms and conditions as were applicable under
that Clearwire Warrant, the same number of whole shares of
Class A Common Stock as the holder of the Clearwire Warrant
would have been entitled to receive under the Merger had the holder
exercised the Clearwire Warrant in full immediately before the
Effective Time, at a price per share of Class A Common Stock
equal to the exercise price set forth in the applicable Clearwire
Warrant.
SECTION 2.9
Withholdings . Each of Clearwire, NewCo, NewCo LLC and
Clearwire Sub LLC will be entitled to deduct and withhold from the
consideration otherwise payable to any Person under this Article 2
any amount it is required to deduct and withhold with respect to
the making of the payment under any provision of federal, state,
local or foreign Tax Law. If Clearwire, NewCo, NewCo LLC or
Clearwire Sub LLC withholds any amount in accordance with the
immediately preceding sentence, the amounts will be treated for all
purposes of this Agreement as having been paid to the Person in
respect of which Clearwire, NewCo, NewCo LLC or Clearwire Sub LLC
made the deduction and withholding.
SECTION 2.10 Lost
Certificates . If any Certificate has been lost, stolen or
destroyed, on the making of an affidavit of that fact by the Person
claiming that Certificate to be lost, stolen or destroyed and, if
required by NewCo, NewCo LLC or Clearwire Sub LLC, delivery by that
Person of an agreement in form reasonably satisfactory to NewCo,
NewCo LLC or Clearwire Sub LLC or, as NewCo, NewCo LLC or Clearwire
Sub LLC may reasonably deem necessary, the posting by that Person
of a bond, in whatever reasonable amount
12
NewCo, NewCo LLC or Clearwire Sub LLC
may direct, as indemnity against any claim that may be made against
it with respect to the Certificate, the Exchange Agent will issue,
in exchange for the lost, stolen or destroyed Certificate, the
Merger Consideration to be paid in respect of the shares of
Clearwire Capital Stock represented by that Certificate, as
contemplated by this Section 2.10.
ARTICLE 3
TRANSFER OF SPRINT
ASSETS
SECTION 3.1 Transfer of
Sprint Assets . Before Closing, Sprint will cause the Sprint
Assets to be held in their entirety by one or more of the Transfer
Entities.
SECTION 3.2 Contribution
of the Transfer Entities .
(a) Before the Closing,
Sprint will cause the Transfer Entities to be contributed to Sprint
HoldCo LLC, and Sprint HoldCo LLC will accept Capital Stock of the
Transfer Entities, in each case, free and clear of any Encumbrance.
Sprint will then cause Sprint HoldCo LLC to contribute the Transfer
Entities to Sprint Sub LLC, and Sprint Sub LLC will accept the
Capital Stock of the Transfer Entities, free and clear of any
Encumbrance, and Sprint Sub LLC will issue to Sprint HoldCo LLC all
of the Capital Stock of Sprint Sub LLC in accordance with the terms
of the Sprint Sub LLC Agreement. The Transfer Entities will be
transferred free of cash and Indebtedness (including any
Encumbrances related thereto), other than the Sprint Pre-Closing
Financing assumed by Sprint Sub LLC in accordance with
Section 1.2(a). From and after the contributions described in
this Section 3.2(a), Sprint will cause the Transfer Entities
and Sprint Sub LLC to be entities disregarded as separate from
Sprint HoldCo LLC for U.S. federal income tax purposes until the
consummation of the transactions described in
Section 3.3.
(b) Sprint will (i) use
its Reasonable Best Efforts to transfer, or cause to be
transferred, by assignment (and not by means of merger, liquidation
or any other means), prior to the Closing, all assets owned by
Sprint and its Subsidiaries that are primarily used in the
operation of the Sprint WiMAX Business, including the Sprint
Assets, and all Liabilities that relate primarily to the Sprint
WiMAX Business to one or more newly formed single member limited
liability companies that are treated as disregarded entities for
U.S. federal income tax purposes and (ii) with respect to
those assets and Liabilities that are not assigned under clause
(i), each Transfer Entity that holds any such assets and
Liabilities that as of the Execution Date is not a limited
liability company treated as a disregarded entity for U.S. federal
income tax purposes, cause such assets and Liabilities to be held
by a limited liability company that is treated as a disregarded
entity for U.S. federal income tax purposes, whether through a
conversion, merger, liquidation or other means (each limited
liability company described in clause (i) or (ii) above,
a “ New Sprint LLC ”). For purpose of clause
(i) of the preceding sentence, Sprint will use its Reasonable
Best Efforts with respect to any particular assets until the
earlier of (x) the date of the receipt of the FCC Consent and
(y) the date that Sprint in its reasonable judgment determines
that the assignment cannot be made because it would cause
Sprint
13
to incur costs (other than
de minimis amounts), including transfer Taxes, greater than
those that would be incurred under clause (ii). Each New Sprint LLC
will at the time of such transaction under clause (i) or
(ii) be deemed to be a Transfer Entity, and each entity that
no longer holds the relevant assets or Liabilities will no longer
be considered a Transfer Entity, if applicable, for all purposes of
this Agreement. Within five Business Days before the Closing,
Sprint will provide the other Parties a revised Section 7.1(c)
of the Sprint Disclosure Schedule showing the then Transfer
Entities. Sprint’s obligation to use its Reasonable Best
Efforts to transfer by assignment any Sprint Lease will not require
Sprint to request the consent of the lessor or sublessor under any
such Sprint Lease if Sprint reasonably determines such consent is
necessary to effectuate such transfer by assignment, if Sprint, in
its reasonable discretion, determines that seeking such consent is
not in the best interests of facilitating the Transactions, would
cause Sprint to incur any additional out-of-pocket costs (other
than de minimis amounts), or would be reasonably likely to
damage the relationship with the lessor under the Sprint
Lease.
SECTION 3.3 Contribution
Consideration to NewCo LLC and NewCo . At the Closing, but
following completion of the Merger,
(a) Sprint will cause Sprint
HoldCo LLC to transfer all of the Capital Stock of Sprint Sub LLC
to NewCo LLC, free and clear of any Encumbrance, and NewCo LLC will
issue 370,000,000 Class B Common Units to Sprint HoldCo LLC in
accordance with the terms of the NewCo LLC Agreement (the “
LLC Contribution ”);
(b) Sprint will cause Sprint
HoldCo LLC to contribute $37,000 in cash to NewCo in consideration
for NewCo’s issuance to Sprint HoldCo LLC of 370,000,000
shares of Class B Common Stock; and
(c) NewCo will contribute the
cash received from Sprint HoldCo LLC pursuant to
Section 3.3(b) to NewCo LLC in exchange for 370,000,000 Voting
Units in NewCo LLC.
SECTION 3.4 Repayment
. NewCo LLC will repay, or cause to be repaid, in full, in
accordance with the terms of the Assumed Note and
Section 1.2(b), the Sprint Pre-Closing Financing that was
assumed by Sprint Sub LLC prior to the LLC Contribution.
SECTION 3.5 Marketing
Funds . Sprint has the right (subject to the satisfaction of
the conditions set forth in the relevant agreements) to have
expended on its behalf approximately $250 million of market
development and device incentive funds (“ Marketing
Funds ”) by one or more vendors under supply agreements
relating to the Sprint WiMAX Business. Subject to the terms of, and
performance by Sprint of its obligations under the relevant
agreements (x) to be performed prior to the Closing and
(y) which relate to or impact the availability of any of the
Marketing Funds, Sprint will have the right to retain up to $100
million of the Marketing Funds for its own benefit and not to
assign those rights to the Transfer Entities. If the vendor or
vendors providing the Marketing Funds to be allocated to Sprint are
unwilling to allow Sprint to retain such Marketing Funds or
allocate the full $100 million of Marketing Funds for
Sprint’s own benefit prior to the end of 2009, NewCo will
direct such
14
additional spending of the Marketing
Funds as directed by Sprint for the benefit of Sprint prior to
December 31, 2009, so that Sprint receives the full $100
million benefit prior to that date. Such direction will be made by
NewCo as and when the vendors have committed to expend any
Marketing Funds after the Closing pursuant to supply agreements
entered into by Sprint and its Subsidiaries prior to the Closing.
Sprint and NewCo will discuss and cooperate with respect to the use
of such Marketing Funds for Sprint’s benefit. If prior to the
Closing, Sprint takes any actions to amend the Marketing Funds
provisions of the relevant agreements or otherwise takes or fails
to take any actions that adversely affect NewCo’s rights to
the Marketing Funds (other than the $100 million of the Marketing
Funds to be retained by Sprint pursuant to this Section 3.5),
NewCo shall be entitled to seek monetary damages against Sprint to
compensate NewCo for the loss of such Marketing Funds. NewCo will
not take any actions to amend the Marketing Funds provisions of the
relevant agreements or otherwise adversely affect such Marketing
Funds to be allocated to Sprint until its obligations to Sprint
under this Section 3.5 have been satisfied in full.
ARTICLE 4
INVESTMENTS
SECTION 4.1 Contributions
of Certain Investors .
(a) At the Closing, but
following the completion of the Merger and the LLC Contribution,
Comcast will contribute $1,050,000,000 to NewCo LLC, TWC will
contribute $550,000,000 to NewCo LLC, BHN will contribute
$100,000,000 to NewCo LLC, and Intel will contribute $1,000,000,000
to NewCo LLC.
(b) In consideration for the
contribution described in Section 4.1(a), NewCo LLC will issue
in accordance with the terms of the NewCo LLC Agreement
(i) 52,500,000 Class B Common Units and 52,500,000 Voting
Units to Comcast, (ii) 27,500,000 Class B Common Units and
27,500,000 Voting Units to TWC, (iii) 5,000,000 Class B Common
Units and 5,000,000 Voting Units to BHN and (iv) 50,000,000
Class B Common Units and 50,000,000 Voting Units to
Intel.
(c) Each of Comcast, TWC, BHN
and Intel will transfer all of its Voting Units to NewCo in
consideration for NewCo’s issuance to such Investor of an
equal number of shares of Class B Common Stock.
(d) All payments required
under this Section 4.1 will be made in cash by wire transfer
of immediately available funds to a bank account(s) of NewCo LLC
designated in writing by NewCo LLC at least three Business Days
before the Closing Date.
SECTION 4.2 Google’s
Purchase of Shares and NewCo Contribution to NewCo LLC
.
(a) At the Closing, but
following the completion of the Merger and the LLC Contribution and
simultaneously with the consummation of the transactions described
in Section 4.1, Google will purchase from NewCo, and NewCo
will issue to Google, 25,000,000 shares of Class A Common
Stock for an aggregate Investment of $500,000,000.
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(b) After the issuance of
Class A Common Stock to Google under Section 4.2(a),
NewCo will contribute Google’s Investment to NewCo LLC and
NewCo LLC will issue to NewCo 25,000,000 Voting Units and
Class A Common Units.
(c) All payments required
under this Section 4.2 will be made in cash by wire transfer
of immediately available funds to a bank account(s) of NewCo
designated in writing by NewCo at least three Business Days before
the Closing Date.
SECTION 4.3 Post-Closing
Adjustment .
(a) On the Adjustment
Date:
(i) If the Adjustment Amount
with respect to an Investor who made its Investment (or the
applicable portion of its Investment) under Section 4.1(a) is
a positive number:
(A) Such Investor will
transfer to NewCo LLC for no consideration a number of Class B
Common Units held by such Investor equal to such Adjustment Amount
and, simultaneously with such transfer, NewCo will transfer to
NewCo LLC for no consideration a number of Voting Units held by
NewCo equal to such Adjustment Amount and all such Class B Common
Units and Voting Units shall be immediately and automatically
canceled; and
(B) Such Investor will
transfer to NewCo for no consideration a number of shares of Class
B Common Stock held by such Investor equal to such Adjustment
Amount and all such shares of Class B Common Stock shall be
immediately and automatically canceled.
(ii) If the Adjustment Amount
with respect to an Investor who made its Investment (or the
applicable portion of its Investment) under Section 4.1(a) is
a negative number:
(A) NewCo LLC will issue to
such Investor for no additional consideration a number of Class B
Common Units equal to the absolute value of such Adjustment Amount
and issue to such Investor for no additional consideration a number
of Voting Units equal to the absolute value of such Adjustment
Amount; and
(B) Immediately thereafter,
such Investor will transfer a number of Voting Units to NewCo equal
to the absolute value of such Adjustment Amount in consideration
for NewCo’s issuance to such Investor of a number of shares
of Class B Common Stock equal to the absolute value of such
Adjustment Amount and NewCo will deliver to such Investor a stock
certificate or evidence of book-entry for those shares duly
executed by NewCo.
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(iii) If the Adjustment
Amount with respect to an Investor who made its Investment (or the
applicable portion of its Investment) under Section 4.2(a) is
a positive number:
(A) Such Investor will
transfer to NewCo for no consideration a number of shares of
Class A Common Stock held by such Investor equal to such
Adjustment Amount; and
(B) Simultaneously with such
transfer, NewCo will transfer to NewCo LLC for no consideration a
number of Voting Units held by NewCo equal to such Adjustment
Amount and a number of Class A Common Units held by NewCo
equal to such Adjustment Amount and all such Voting Units and
Class A Common Units shall be immediately and automatically
canceled.
(iv) If the Adjustment Amount
with respect to an Investor who made its Investment (or the
applicable portion of its Investment) under Section 4.2(a) is
a negative number:
(A) NewCo will issue to such
Investor for no additional consideration a number of shares of
Class A Common Stock equal to the absolute value of such
Adjustment Amount and deliver to such Investor a stock certificate
or evidence of book-entry for those shares duly executed by NewCo;
and
(B) Simultaneously with such
issuance, NewCo LLC will issue to NewCo a number of Voting Units
equal to the absolute value of such Adjustment Amount and a number
of Class A Common Units equal to the absolute value of such
Adjustment Amount.
(b) NewCo, NewCo LLC and each
Investor will execute any documents necessary to effect the
adjustments contemplated pursuant to clause
(a) above.
(c) During the period between
the Closing and the Adjustment Date, NewCo shall not effect any
reclassification, recapitalization, stock split (including reverse
stock split), stock dividend, merger, combination, exchange or
readjustment of shares, subdivision or other similar transaction,
commit to do so or publicly announce its intention to do
so.
(d) The shares of
Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock and Class A
Common Units, Class B Common Units and Voting Units, if any, to be
issued in connection with any adjustment made pursuant to clause
(a) above, when issued and delivered in accordance with the
terms of this Agreement, will be duly authorized, validly issued,
fully paid and nonassessable and free of Encumbrances, preemptive
rights or other similar rights, other than Encumbrances, preemptive
rights or similar rights created by the Equityholders’
Agreement or the NewCo LLC Agreement.
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(e) The Parties intend that
the adjustments pursuant to this Section 4.3 be treated for
U.S. federal income tax purposes as adjustments to the purchase
price paid to (i) NewCo LLC by the Investors for their Class B
Common Units and Voting Units or (ii) NewCo by the Investors
for their Class A Common Stock, as applicable, and as an
adjustment to the purchase price paid by the Investors for their
shares of Class B Common Stock acquired from NewCo, as applicable,
and not as separate transactions for those purposes;
provided , however , that for purposes of making such
adjustments, the portion of the purchase price allocable to Voting
Units and Class B Common Stock shall in all cases be consistent
with Section 10.12.
SECTION 4.4 NewCo and
NewCo LLC Joinder . Clearwire shall cause each of NewCo and
NewCo LLC to enter into a written agreement at the Closing, in a
form reasonably satisfactory to the Investors and Sprint, pursuant
to which each of NewCo and NewCo LLC will agree to be bound by the
terms and provisions of this Agreement contemplating performance by
NewCo or NewCo LLC, as applicable, after the Effective Time
(including Section 3.5, Section 4.3, Section 10.6
and Section 10.17) and will make the representations and
warranties set forth in Section 4.3(d) to Sprint and each
Investor.
SECTION 4.5 Use of
Proceeds . The aggregate proceeds received by NewCo LLC from
the Total Investment on the Closing Date will be used by NewCo LLC
(a) to pay fees and expenses incurred by NewCo (in accordance
with Article 3 of the NewCo LLC Agreement), (b) to pay fees
and expenses incurred by NewCo LLC in connection with the
Transactions, including the fees and expenses contemplated under
Section 10.11 and Section 14.14(a), (c) for capital
expenditures and operational expenditures associated with the
deployment and operation of the Wireless Broadband Network,
including, expenditures for spectrum acquisitions, site
acquisition, network construction and wireless broadband
infrastructure, (d) subject to the limitations in the
Equityholders’ Agreement, funding the business operations and
activities of NewCo LLC’s international operations,
(e) otherwise as permitted or contemplated by this Agreement
and the NewCo LLC Agreement, including the repayment of the Sprint
Pre-Closing Financing and (f) otherwise as may be approved by
the NewCo Board of Directors in accordance with this Agreement, the
Equityholders’ Agreement and the NewCo LLC
Agreement.
ARTICLE 5
CLOSING
DELIVERABLES
SECTION 5.1 Clearwire
Closing Deliverables . At the Closing, Clearwire will deliver,
or cause to be delivered, to the other Parties the
following:
(a) certificates executed by
an executive officer of Clearwire and the Chief Financial Officer
of Clearwire certifying compliance by Clearwire with the conditions
set forth in Section 9.2(a), Section 9.4(a),
Section 9.2(b), Section 9.4(b), Section 9.2(d) and
Section 9.4(d), solely with respect to Clearwire and its
Subsidiaries;
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(b) a certificate duly
executed by the Secretary or any Assistant Secretary of Clearwire,
dated as of the Closing Date, certifying
(i) the good standing of each
of Clearwire, NewCo, NewCo LLC and Clearwire Sub LLC in its
jurisdiction of incorporation or formation, as
applicable,
(ii) the effectiveness of the
resolutions of the board of directors of Clearwire authorizing the
execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement,
and
(iii) the receipt of the
Clearwire Stockholder Approval;
(c) a certificate duly
executed by the Secretary or any Assistant Secretary of NewCo,
dated as of the Closing Date, certifying
(i) the good standing of
NewCo in its jurisdiction of incorporation, and
(ii) the effectiveness of the
resolutions of the board of directors of NewCo authorizing the
execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement;
(d) a certificate duly
executed by the Managing Member (as defined in the NewCo LLC
Agreement) of NewCo LLC, dated as of the Closing Date,
certifying
(i) the good standing of
NewCo LLC in its jurisdiction of formation, and
(ii) the due authorization by
the Managing Member of NewCo LLC authorizing the execution,
delivery and performance of this Agreement;
(e) the NewCo LLC Agreement,
duly executed by NewCo;
(f) the Registration Rights
Agreement, duly executed by NewCo;
(g) the Equityholders’
Agreement, duly executed by NewCo;
(h) to each Investor making
its Investment (or the applicable portion of its Investment) under
Section 4.1(a), an instrument (which may be evidence of
book-entry) evidencing the Voting Units to be issued at the Closing
duly executed by NewCo LLC;
(i) to each Investor making
its Investment (or the applicable portion of its Investment) under
Section 4.2(a), a stock certificate for each such Investor or
evidence of book-entry for the respective shares of Class A
Common Stock to be issued at Closing duly executed by
NewCo;
(j) an instrument (which may
be evidence of book-entry) for Sprint HoldCo LLC and each Investor
(other than Google) evidencing the Class B Common Units to be
issued at the Closing duly executed by NewCo LLC;
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(k) a stock certificate for
Sprint HoldCo LLC and each Investor (other than Google) or evidence
of book-entry for the respective shares of Class B Common Stock to
be issued at Closing duly executed by NewCo;
(l) all other Ancillary
Agreements (other than those signed and delivered on the Execution
Date) to which Clearwire, NewCo, NewCo LLC or Clearwire Sub LLC is
a party, duly executed by Clearwire, NewCo, NewCo LLC and Clearwire
Sub LLC, as applicable;
(m) evidence in a form and
substance reasonably satisfactory to Sprint and the Investors of
the receipt of the Credit Agreement Consent or the consummation of
the Credit Agreement Refinancing;
(n) copies of the opinions to
be provided under Section 9.1(n) solely for information
purposes;
(o) if the Secured Note is
issued pursuant to Section 1.2(b), the Secured Note
Documentation, duly executed by NewCo LLC and/or one or more of its
Subsidiaries, as applicable, to be effective one Business Day after
the Closing (such documentation to be delivered only to Sprint);
and
(p) all other documents
required to be entered into by Clearwire, NewCo, NewCo LLC or
Clearwire Sub LLC under this Agreement or reasonably requested by
other Parties to consummate the Transactions.
SECTION 5.2 Sprint Closing
Deliverables . At Closing, Sprint will deliver, or cause to be
delivered, to the other Parties the following:
(a) certificates executed by
an executive officer of Sprint and the Chief Financial Officer of
Sprint as to compliance by Sprint with the conditions set forth in
Section 9.3(a), Section 9.4(a), Section 9.3(b),
Section 9.4(b), Section 9.3(d) and Section 9.4(d),
solely with respect to Sprint and its Subsidiaries;
(b) (i) a certificate
duly executed by the Chief Financial Officer of Sprint, dated as of
the Closing Date, certifying that the consummation of the
Transactions will not (x) cause a breach of any covenants or
obligations under the Sprint Senior Debt Agreements or
(y) increase the magnitude of any then-existing unrelated
breach of any covenants or obligations under the Sprint Senior Debt
Arrangements and (ii) a legal opinion of King &
Spalding LLP or another law firm of nationally recognized standing
to the effect that the consummation of the Transactions will not
violate, cause a default or event of default under or cause the
imposition of a lien on the assets or property of NewCo or any of
its Subsidiaries under the Sprint Senior Debt Agreements, which
opinion shall (A) be subject to reasonable and customary
assumptions, (B) be based upon reasonable and customary
certificates from NewCo and Sprint, (C) be in form and
substance reasonably satisfactory to NewCo and (D) provide
that NewCo shall (and the lenders under the Credit Agreement (or
any replacement in accordance with Section 10.1(a)(xv))) also
be entitled to rely thereon; provided , however , if
Sprint is unable to provide the foregoing certificate and legal
opinion without taking actions of the type
20
described in
Section 2.13 of the Equityholders’ Agreement, Sprint
shall be required to take, as promptly as possible to permit the
Closing to occur at the end of the calendar month in which it
otherwise would occur but for Sprint’s inability to provide
such certificate or legal opinion, such actions in order to be able
to deliver such certificate and legal opinion effective as of such
Closing Date, and the rights and obligations of the Parties under
Section 2.13 of the Equityholders’ Agreement shall apply
with respect to such actions;
(c) a certificate duly
executed by the Secretary or any Assistant Secretary of Sprint,
dated as of the Closing Date, certifying
(i) the good standing of
Sprint, Sprint HoldCo LLC, Sprint Sub LLC and each Transfer Entity,
in its jurisdiction of incorporation or formation, as applicable
and
(ii) the effectiveness of the
resolutions of the board of directors of Sprint authorizing the
execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement;
(d) the NewCo LLC Agreement,
duly executed by Sprint;
(e) the Registration Rights
Agreement, duly executed by Sprint;
(f) the Equityholders’
Agreement, duly executed by Sprint;
(g) an instrument evidencing
the transfer of the Capital Stock of Sprint Sub LLC to be
transferred at Closing, duly executed by Sprint HoldCo
LLC;
(h) an instrument evidencing
the wire transfer of the consideration for the Class B Common Stock
to be issued to Sprint HoldCo LLC in immediately available funds to
a bank account designated in writing by NewCo;
(i) all other Ancillary
Agreements to which Sprint and/or one or more appropriate
Subsidiaries of Sprint is a party, duly executed by Sprint and/or
the appropriate Subsidiary of Sprint;
(j) all organizational
documents and books and records of Sprint Sub LLC and each of the
Transfer Entities (such organizational documents and books and
records to be delivered only to NewCo);
(k) one or more instruments
evidencing the conversion and/or transfers of assets and
Liabilities contemplated by Section 3.2 (such instruments to
be delivered only to NewCo);
(l) if the Secured Note is
issued pursuant to Section 1.2(b), the Secured Note
Documentation, duly executed by Sprint and/or one or more of its
Subsidiaries, as applicable, to be effective one Business Day after
the Closing (such documentation to be delivered only to NewCo);
and
21
(m) all other documents
required to be entered into by Sprint under this Agreement or
reasonably requested by the other Parties to consummate the
Transactions.
SECTION 5.3 Investor
Closing Deliverables . At Closing, each Investor will deliver,
or cause to be delivered, to the other Parties the
following:
(a) an instrument evidencing
the wire transfer of such Investor’s Investment in
immediately available funds to a bank account designated in writing
by NewCo or NewCo LLC, as the case may be;
(b) a certificate executed by
an executive officer of such Investor certifying compliance by such
Investor with the conditions set forth in Section 9.2(a),
Section 9.3(a), Section 9.2(b) and Section 9.3(b),
solely with respect to such Investor and its
Subsidiaries;
(c) a certificate duly
executed by the Secretary or any Assistant Secretary of such
Investor, dated as of the Closing Date, certifying
(i) the good standing of such
Investor, in its jurisdiction of incorporation or formation, as
applicable; and
(ii) the effectiveness of the
resolutions of the board of directors of such Investor, or other
evidence of authority, authorizing the execution, delivery and
performance of this Agreement;
(d) the NewCo LLC Agreement,
duly executed by such Investor (other than Google);
(e) an instrument evidencing
the transfer of the Voting Units to be transferred at Closing, duly
executed by such Investor (other than Google);
(f) the Equityholders’
Agreement, duly executed by such Investor;
(g) all other Ancillary
Agreements required to be entered into by such Investor under this
Agreement, duly executed by such Investor and/or one or more
appropriate Subsidiaries of such Investor; and
(h) all other documents
required to be entered into by such Investor and/or one or more
appropriate Subsidiaries of such Investor under this Agreement or
reasonably requested by the other Parties to consummate the
Transactions.
ARTICLE 6
REPRESENTATIONS AND
WARRANTIES OF CLEARWIRE
Except as disclosed in the
disclosure letter (the “ Clearwire Disclosure Schedule
”) delivered by Clearwire to Sprint and the Investors prior
to the execution of this Agreement (which letter sets forth items
of disclosure with specific reference to the particular Section or
subsection of this Agreement to which the information in the
Clearwire Disclosure Schedule relates), except:
(A) any information set forth
in one section of the Clearwire Disclosure Schedule will be deemed
to apply to each other Section or subsection of this Agreement to
which its relevance is reasonably apparent from a reasonable
reading thereof to a reasonable person without independent
knowledge of the matters so disclosed; and
22
(B) notwithstanding anything
in this Agreement to the contrary, the inclusion of an item in such
schedule as an exception to a representation or warranty will not
be deemed an admission that such item represents a material
exception or material fact, event or circumstance or that such item
has had or would reasonably be expected to have a Clearwire
Material Adverse Effect.
Clearwire represents and warrants to the
other Parties as of the Execution Date and the Closing Date as
follows:
SECTION 6.1 Organization;
Authorization .
(a) Clearwire and each of its
Subsidiaries is duly organized, validly existing and in good
standing under the Laws of its jurisdiction of formation and has
all corporate, limited liability company or similar powers and all
Governmental Licenses required to carry on its business as now
conducted, except for those Governmental Licenses the absence of
which would not reasonably be expected to result, individually or
in the aggregate, in a Clearwire Material Adverse Effect. Clearwire
and each of its Subsidiaries has all requisite power and authority
to enter into this Agreement and each Ancillary Agreement to which
it is or will be a party and to perform the obligations to be
performed by it under this Agreement and each such Ancillary
Agreement. Clearwire and each of its Subsidiaries is duly qualified
to do business as a foreign entity and is in good standing under
the Laws of each state or other jurisdiction in which the ownership
of assets by it or the nature of the activities conducted by it
requires such qualification, except where the failure to so qualify
would not reasonably be expected to result, individually or in the
aggregate, in a Clearwire Material Adverse Effect.
The affirmative (in person or
by proxy) vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding
voting power of Clearwire A Common Stock and Clearwire Class B
Common Stock, voting together as a single class, voting to approve
this Agreement and the Transactions contemplated hereby is the only
vote of the holders of Clearwire Capital Stock necessary in
connection with the consummation of the Transactions contemplated
by this Agreement (the “ Clearwire Stockholder
Approval ”). The execution and delivery of this Agreement
and the Ancillary Agreements to which Clearwire or any Subsidiary
of Clearwire is or will be a party, and the performance by
Clearwire and each of its Subsidiaries of its obligations under
this Agreement and the Ancillary Agreements to which it is or will
be a party, have been duly authorized by all necessary actions,
except for the Clearwire Stockholder Approval, on the part of
Clearwire and each of its Subsidiaries. This Agreement has been,
and the Ancillary Agreements to which it or a Subsidiary of
Clearwire will be a party at Closing will be, duly executed and
delivered by
23
Clearwire and such Subsidiary
and constitutes, and will constitute, a legal, valid and binding
obligation of Clearwire and such Subsidiary, as the case may be,
enforceable against it and such Subsidiary in accordance with its
terms, subject to applicable bankruptcy, insolvency,
reorganization, moratorium, liquidation, fraudulent conveyance and
other similar Laws and principles of equity affecting
creditors’ rights and remedies generally (the “
Bankruptcy Exception ”).
Clearwire has furnished or
made available to Sprint and the Investors true and complete copies
of its and of each of its material Subsidiary’s
organizational documents, each as amended to date. Those
organizational documents are in full force and effect, and neither
Clearwire nor any Subsidiary of Clearwire is in violation of any
provision of its respective organizational documents, except as
would not reasonably be expected to result, individually or in the
aggregate, in a Clearwire Material Adverse Effect.
(b) At a meeting duly called
and held on May 5, 2008, Clearwire’s board of directors,
by the affirmative vote of all directors voting at the
meeting,
(i) declared that this
Agreement and the Transactions contemplated by it, including the
Merger, are advisable and in the best interests of Clearwire and
Clearwire’s stockholders,
(ii) approved and adopted
this Agreement and the Transactions contemplated by it, including
the Merger, and
(iii) resolved to recommend
acceptance, approval and adoption of this Agreement and the Merger
by Clearwire’s stockholders.
(c) Morgan Stanley &
Co. Incorporated (the “ Independent Advisor ”)
has delivered to Clearwire’s board of directors its written
opinion, dated the Execution Date, that, as of the Execution Date
and based on the assumptions, qualifications and limitations
contained in that written opinion, the consideration to be received
by holders of Clearwire Class A Common Stock as a result of
the Merger is fair to such Clearwire stockholders from a financial
point of view. A complete copy of such opinion will be made
available solely for information purposes to Sprint and each
Investor as soon as practicable after the Execution
Date.
(d) As of Closing, each of
NewCo, NewCo LLC and Clearwire Sub LLC will be a limited liability
company or corporation duly organized, validly existing and in good
standing under the Laws of the jurisdiction of its formation or
incorporation and will have all limited liability company or
corporate power and all Governmental Licenses required to carry on
its business, as then being conducted, except for those
Governmental Licenses the absence of which would not reasonably be
expected to result, individually or in the aggregate, in a
Clearwire Material Adverse Effect. Each of NewCo, NewCo LLC and
Clearwire Sub LLC on the Closing Date will have all requisite power
and authority to enter into each Ancillary Agreement to which it
will be a party and to perform the obligations to be performed by
it under each such Ancillary Agreement. Immediately prior to the
Closing, each of NewCo, NewCo LLC and Clearwire Sub LLC will be
duly
24
qualified to do business as a
foreign entity and in good standing under the Laws of each state or
other jurisdiction in which the ownership of assets by it or the
nature of the activities conducted by it requires such
qualification, except where the failure to be so qualified would
not reasonably be expected to result, individually or in the
aggregate, in a Clearwire Material Adverse Effect. Since the date
of its formation, each of NewCo, NewCo LLC and Clearwire Sub LLC
shall not have engaged in any activities and shall not have any
Liabilities other than in connection with, or as contemplated by,
this Agreement and the Transactions.
(e) Each of NewCo, NewCo LLC
and Clearwire Sub LLC is not, and after giving effect to the
Transactions and the transactions contemplated by the Ancillary
Agreements, will not be, required to register as an
“investment company” as such term is defined in the
Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.
SECTION 6.2
Non-Contravention . The execution, delivery and performance
of this Agreement and the Ancillary Agreements to which it or
NewCo, NewCo LLC or Clearwire Sub LLC is a party, the consummation
of the Transactions including the Merger and the fulfillment of and
compliance with the terms and conditions of this Agreement and the
Ancillary Agreements to which it or NewCo, NewCo LLC or Clearwire
Sub LLC is or will be as of the Closing a party do not or will not
result in the imposition of any Encumbrance, and do not or will not
(as the case may be), with the passing of time or the giving of
notice or both, violate or conflict with, constitute a breach of or
default under, result in the loss of any benefit under, permit the
acceleration of any obligation under or create in any party the
right to terminate, modify or cancel,
(a) any term or provision of
the certificate of incorporation or bylaws of Clearwire or the
organizational documents of NewCo, NewCo LLC or Clearwire Sub
LLC,
(b) any Clearwire Lease or
any Clearwire License,
(c) any Clearwire
Contract,
(d) any Governmental License
held by Clearwire or any of its Subsidiaries, (other than a
Clearwire License),
(e) any judgment, decree or
order of any Governmental Authority to which Clearwire or any of
its Subsidiaries is a party or by which Clearwire or any of its
Subsidiaries or any of their respective properties are bound,
or
(f) any Law applicable to any
Clearwire Asset and in existence as of the Execution
Date,
in the case of each of
clauses (b) through (f), except as would not reasonably be
expected to result in a Clearwire Material Adverse
Effect.
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SECTION 6.3 Clearwire
Licenses .
(a) Description .
Section 6.3 of the Clearwire Disclosure Schedule sets forth:
(i) a true and complete list, as of the Execution Date, of
each of the Clearwire Licenses, (ii) the lawful, beneficial
and exclusive holder of each Clearwire License, and (iii) the
BTA, call sign or other identifying information for each Clearwire
License. As of April 30, 2008, the number of MHz-Pops covered
by Clearwire Licenses and spectrum rights that are subject to
Clearwire In-Leases, less the number of MHz-Pops covered by the
spectrum rights that are subject to the Clearwire Out-Leases, is at
least 13,911,000,000.
(b) Validity
.
(i) The grant, renewal or
assignment of the Clearwire Licenses to the existing licensee of
the Clearwire License was approved by the FCC by Final Order, and
the Clearwire Licenses are validly issued and in full force and
effect; and
(ii) other than Proceedings
of general applicability, there is no Proceeding pending or, to the
Knowledge of Clearwire, threatened before the FCC, that, if
determined as requested by the moving party or as indicated in any
document initiating the Proceeding, could result in the revocation,
modification, restriction, cancellation, termination, suspension or
non-renewal of any Clearwire License or other action that is
adverse to holder of the License, or the imposition of a material
monetary fine, nor does Clearwire have Knowledge of any facts
which, if asserted, would be reasonably likely to result in any
such action. Timely payments have been made to the United States
Government for those of the Clearwire Licenses that are BTA
authorizations.
(iii) Neither Clearwire nor
any of its Affiliates is a party to any contract, agreement or
other arrangement to assign or otherwise dispose of, or that would
adversely affect, NewCo’s or its Subsidiaries’
ownership of, any material Clearwire License after the Effective
Time.
(c) License Facilities
.
(i) The facilities subject to
a Clearwire License (the “ Clearwire License
Facilities ”) were constructed and operated within the
timeframe required by then-applicable FCC Rules (or waivers or
extensions thereof) to satisfy construction and operating
requirements applicable to each Clearwire License;
(ii) the Clearwire License
Facilities since the acquisition of the Clearwire Licenses, and to
the Knowledge of Clearwire, at all times, have been operating in
material compliance with the FCC authorizations and the FCC Rules,
except where the facilities were not required to operate under FCC
Rules or by grant of authority from the FCC;
(iii) none of the Clearwire
License Facilities (A) is authorized under an authorization
that is subject to challenge before the United States Court of
Appeals or (B) is subject to any lease, sublease or any
agreement that grants to any third Person the right, contingent or
otherwise, to use, acquire or make it available to, or for use by,
a third Person;
26
(iv) no Clearwire License is
subject to (A) a revocation proceeding or (B) a pending
request for waiver of Section 21.303 of the FCC Rules or any
successor provision thereto;
(v) Except as set forth in
Section 6.3(c)(v) of the Clearwire Disclosure Schedule, no
Clearwire Licenses or Clearwire License Facilities are subject to
any contract or other agreement providing for the relocation of
wireless facilities or the sharing of any costs associated with any
such relocation with respect to the Clearwire Licenses;
and
(vi) no Clearwire License
Facilities are operating under special temporary or developmental
authority.
(d) All reports required to
be filed by Clearwire with the FCC with respect to the Clearwire
Licenses have been timely filed except where the failure to so
timely file would not reasonably be expected to result in a
Clearwire Material Adverse Effect. To the Knowledge of Clearwire,
all reports filed with the FCC relating to the Clearwire Licenses
are complete and accurate.
(e) Clearwire has delivered
or made available to Sprint and the Investors true and complete
copies of all authorizations comprising each Clearwire License,
and, except for documents otherwise publicly available, all
documents filed in and all notices or orders issued in connection
with, any Proceeding pending at the FCC relating to Clearwire
Licenses.
SECTION 6.4 Clearwire
Leases .
(a) Section 6.4 of the
Clearwire Disclosure Schedule sets forth: (i) a true and
complete list, as of the Execution Date, of each of the Clearwire
Leases, (ii) the lawful, beneficial and exclusive holder of
each Clearwire Lease, (iii) the licensee or sublessor, as
applicable, for each such Clearwire Lease, and (iv) the BTA,
call sign or other identifying information for each Clearwire
Lease.
(b) Each Clearwire Lease is
valid, binding and in full force and effect, meets in all material
respects all requirements of Law, and is enforceable in accordance
with its terms, except as may be modified by FCC Rules and subject
to the Bankruptcy Exception. The applicable Clearwire entity is the
lessee or sublessee under each Clearwire Lease (by entry into the
Clearwire Lease, assignment of the Lease, transfer of rights or
other means) and, except with respect to any capacity of EBS
spectrum retained by the holder of the License, has the sole right
to use the spectrum under each Clearwire Lease. To the Knowledge of
Clearwire, other than the terms of each Clearwire Lease, the FCC
Rules limiting the duration of any Clearwire Lease, the FCC’s
renewal of the underlying License and the FCC’s renewal of
its consent to any Clearwire De Facto Transfer Lease, there are no
facts or circumstances that would reasonably be likely to (whether
with or without notice, lapse of time or the occurrence of any
other event) preclude the renewal or extension of any Clearwire
Lease in the ordinary course of business.
27
(c) Clearwire and the
Domestic Clearwire Subsidiaries are not, nor to the Knowledge of
Clearwire, is any other party to any of the material Clearwire
Leases in breach or default under the material Clearwire Leases,
and any material breach or default that has been asserted by such
other party has been waived, cured or otherwise settled.
(d) Clearwire and the
Domestic Clearwire Subsidiaries have not, nor to the Knowledge of
Clearwire, has any other party to any of the material Clearwire
Leases claimed in any written statement that the counterparty is in
breach or default under the material Clearwire Leases and any past
breach or default has been waived, cured or otherwise settled. For
purposes of this Section 6.4, any breach of a payment
obligation shall be deemed material.
(e) No party to any Clearwire
Lease has claimed in writing, and to the Knowledge of Clearwire, no
party has threatened, in any written statement to Clearwire that
the party has a right to terminate any Clearwire Lease at any time
or to seek damages against any transferor for the violation, breach
or default by any transferor of any Clearwire Lease.
(f) Clearwire has delivered
or made available to Sprint and the Investors copies of all
Clearwire Leases, which are true and complete in all material
respects.
(g) Neither Clearwire nor any
of its Affiliates is a party to any contract, agreement or other
arrangement to assign or otherwise dispose of, or that would
adversely affect, NewCo’s or its Subsidiaries’
ownership of, any material Clearwire Lease after the Effective
Time.
(h) To the Knowledge of
Clearwire:
(i) the grant, renewal or
assignment of the FCC licenses subject to the Clearwire Leases (the
“ Clearwire Leased FCC Licenses ”) to the
existing licensee of the Clearwire Lease was approved by the FCC by
Final Order;
(ii) the Clearwire Leased FCC
Licenses are validly issued and in full force and
effect;
(iii) other than Proceedings
of general applicability, there is no Proceeding pending or
threatened before the FCC that, if determined as requested by the
moving party or as indicated in any document initiating the
Proceeding, could result in the revocation, modification,
restriction, cancellation, termination, suspension or non-renewal
of the Clearwire Leased FCC Licenses or other action that is
adverse to the licensee of the Clearwire Lease, nor is Clearwire
aware of any facts which, if asserted, would be reasonably likely
to result in any such action; and
28
(iv) adequate facilities were
constructed and operated within the timeframe required by
then-applicable FCC Rules (or waivers or extensions thereof) to
satisfy construction and operating requirements applicable to each
Clearwire Leased FCC License.
(i) Each Clearwire De Facto
Transfer Lease has been granted by the FCC by Final
Order.
SECTION 6.5 Clearwire
Network Assets .
(a) Except as set forth in
Section 6.5 of the Clearwire Disclosure Schedule, Clearwire or
one of the Domestic Clearwire Subsidiaries has good and marketable
title to each Clearwire Network Asset, free and clear of all
Encumbrances. In the aggregate, the Clearwire Network Assets
are:
(i) in good operating
condition and in a state of good maintenance and repair, ordinary
wear and tear excepted;
(ii) usable in the regular
and ordinary course of business;
(iii) operating as intended
in accordance with normal industry practice; and
(iv) conform in all material
respects to all applicable Laws.
Clearwire has no Knowledge of
any material defect with any of the material Clearwire Network
Assets.
(b) Each of Clearwire, the
Domestic Clearwire Subsidiaries and the Clearwire Network Assets is
in compliance with applicable Environmental Laws in all material
respects. There are no pending or, to the Knowledge of Clearwire,
threatened Proceedings alleging any material liability of, or
material noncompliance by, Clearwire or the Domestic Clearwire
Subsidiaries under applicable Environmental Laws. Clearwire or the
applicable Domestic Clearwire Subsidiary, as the case may be, holds
and is in compliance in all material respects with all Governmental
Licenses required under Environmental Laws for their operations,
including of the Clearwire Network Assets. Solely as a result of
the Clearwire Assets, the consummation of the Merger will not
require compliance with the New Jersey Industrial Site Recovery Act
or with Sections 22a-134 through 22a-134e of the Connecticut
General Statutes (commonly known as the Connecticut Transfer Act),
each as amended. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this
Agreement including Section 6.9, the representations contained
in this Section 6.5 contain all representations and warranties
made by Clearwire in this Agreement with respect to Environmental
Laws.
SECTION 6.6 Litigation
.
(a) There is no Proceeding
instituted or pending or, to the Knowledge of Clearwire, threatened
against Clearwire or its Subsidiaries that if adversely
determined
29
would reasonably be expected
to result, individually or in the aggregate, in a Clearwire
Material Adverse Effect or that, as of the Execution Date, in any
manner challenges or seeks to prevent, enjoin, alter or materially
delay the Merger or the other Transactions contemplated by this
Agreement. There are no judgments, orders, injunctions, decrees,
stipulations or awards (whether rendered by a court, administrative
agency, or by arbitration, as a result of a grievance or other
procedure) against or relating to Clearwire, any of its
Subsidiaries or, to the Knowledge of Clearwire, any Person for whom
Clearwire or any of its Subsidiaries is liable for certain claims
that would reasonably be expected to result, individually or in the
aggregate, in a Clearwire Material Adverse Effect or that, as of
the Execution Date, in any manner challenges or seeks to prevent,
enjoin, alter or materially delay the Merger or the other
Transactions contemplated by this Agreement.
(b) Section 6.6(b) of
the Clearwire Disclosure Schedule lists all pending litigation and
material disputes regarding any Clearwire License or Clearwire
Lease (the “ Clearwire License Disputes
”).
SECTION 6.7 Tax
.
(a) None of the assets of
Clearwire or any of its Subsidiaries is subject to any material
Encumbrance for Taxes, except for liens for Taxes not yet due and
payable.
(b) All material Tax Returns
required to be filed by Clearwire or any of its Subsidiaries have
been timely filed, and all those Tax Returns are true, correct and
complete in all material respects.
(c) All material Taxes owed
by Clearwire and its Subsidiaries (whether or not shown on any Tax
Return) have been paid, except for those Taxes being contested in
good faith and for which adequate reserves have been established in
Clearwire’s Financial Statements. Except for Taxes that may
arise solely as result of actions or transactions following the
Execution Date permitted by this Agreement, neither Clearwire nor
any of its Subsidiaries has incurred any liability (whether or not
due) for material Taxes since the date of the most recent balance
sheet included in the Clearwire Financial Statements other than in
the ordinary course of business.
(d) Except as disclosed in
Section 6.7(d) of the Clearwire Disclosure Schedule, there is
no currently pending audit or administrative or judicial proceeding
with respect to Taxes of Clearwire or any of its Subsidiaries.
Except as disclosed in Section 6.7(d) of the Clearwire
Disclosure Schedule, neither Clearwire nor any of its Subsidiaries
(i) is a party to or bound by any material closing agreement,
offer in compromise, gain recognition agreement or any other
agreement with any Taxing Authority or any Tax indemnity or Tax
sharing agreement with any person, or (ii) has entered into
any waivers or extensions of the statute of limitations with
respect to material Taxes.
(e) Clearwire has no
Knowledge of any proposed or threatened Tax claims or assessments
with respect to Clearwire or any of its Subsidiaries that, if
upheld, would, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be
expected to have a Clearwire Material Adverse Effect.
30
(f) Except as disclosed in
Section 6.7(f) of the Clearwire Disclosure Schedule, Clearwire
and each of its Subsidiaries have withheld and paid over to the
relevant Taxing Authorities all Taxes required to have been
withheld and paid in connection with payments to employees,
independent contractors, creditors, shareholders or other third
parties.
(g) Neither Clearwire nor any
of its Subsidiaries has entered into, or otherwise participated
(directly or indirectly) in, any “listed transaction”,
or any reportable transaction the principal purpose of which was
tax avoidance, within the meaning of Sections 6011, 6111 or 6112 of
the Code and the Treasury Regulations thereunder or has received a
written opinion from a tax advisor that was intended to provide
protection against a tax penalty.
(h) Except as set forth in
Section 6.7(h) of the Clearwire Disclosure Schedule, each
Subsidiary of Clearwire is either (x) treated as a partnership
or (y) disregarded as an entity separate from its owner, for
U.S. federal income tax purposes. No action has been taken by
Clearwire or any of its Affiliates to treat NewCo LLC or its
Subsidiaries (including Clearwire Sub LLC) other than as described
in Section 1.1(b), Section 1.1(c) and this
Section 6.7(h).
(i) Except as set forth in
Section 6.7(i) of the Clearwire Disclosure Schedule, the
Merger and other transactions contemplated by Articles 2, 3 and 4
of this Agreement will not result in the recognition by NewCo or
any of its Subsidiaries of income or gain under Section 1502
of the Code and the Regulations thereunder (or any comparable
provision under state or local income Tax law) or, to the Knowledge
of Clearwire, any other material items of income or Tax (“
Clearwire Transaction Tax Items ”). For the avoidance
of doubt, Clearwire Transaction Tax Items shall not include any
items of income or gain of Sprint or any of its Subsidiaries
(including any income or gain of Subsidiaries of Sprint that become
Subsidiaries of NewCo in the LLC Contribution).
(j) Section 6.7(j) of
the Clearwire Disclosure sets forth, in all material respects, the
information concerning any limitations on the ability of NewCo to
utilize the net operating losses of Clearwire for U.S. federal
income Tax purposes following the Merger.
(k) Any liabilities of
Clearwire, with the possible exception of any indebtedness issued
by Clearwire between the Execution Date and the Closing in
accordance with Sections 10.1(b)(iv)(F) or 10.1(b)(iv)(H) of this
Agreement, deemed for U.S. federal income tax purposes to be
assumed by NewCo LLC in connection with the transactions described
in Articles 3 and 4 hereof will constitute “qualified
liabilities” as defined in Treasury Regulation
Section 1.707-5(a)(6)(i)(D).
31
SECTION 6.8 Clearwire
Contracts .
(a) Section 6.8(a) of
the Clearwire Disclosure Schedule sets forth a true, correct and
complete list of the Specified Clearwire Contracts and true,
correct and complete copies of all Specified Clearwire Contracts
and all amendments and waivers thereunder have been made available
to Sprint and the Investors. To the extent Specified Clearwire
Contracts are not evidenced by documents, written summaries have
been made available to Sprint and the Investors. Subject to the
Bankruptcy Exception, all Specified Clearwire Contracts are in full
force and effect and are legal, valid, binding and enforceable in
accordance with their respective terms with respect to Clearwire
and its Subsidiaries and, to the Knowledge of Clearwire, each other
party to the Specified Clearwire Contracts, in each case except as
would not be reasonably likely to result in a Clearwire Material
Adverse Effect. There are no existing defaults or breaches of
Clearwire or its Subsidiaries under any Specified Clearwire
Contract (or events or conditions that, with notice or lapse of
time or both would constitute a default or breach) and, to the
Knowledge of Clearwire, there are no defaults or breaches (or
events or conditions that, with notice or lapse of time or both,
would constitute a default or breach) with respect to any third
party to any Specified Clearwire Contract, in each case except as
would not be reasonably likely to result in a Clearwire Material
Adverse Effect.
(b) Except as set forth in
Section 6.8(b) of the Clearwire Disclosure Schedule, or as
contemplated by this Agreement Clearwire and Subsidiaries have
not
(i) offered, sold, provided
or marketed (as a reseller, mobile virtual network operator,
wholesaler or agent) the products and services of any mobile voice
carrier other than Sprint and its Affiliates;
(ii) permitted any of their
trademarks, tradenames or service marks to be utilized by any
mobile voice carrier (other than Sprint and its Affiliates) in the
offer, sale, promotion or marketing of any products and services;
or
(iii) entered into any
wholesale/resale, mobile virtual network operator, co-branding or
service bundling agreement with any third party.
(c) Clearwire has taken all
actions necessary to terminate the Master Supply Agreement dated
March 16, 2005 among Clearwire Corporation, Clearwire LLC,
Bell Canada and BCE Nexxia Corporation in accordance with its
terms, and such agreement shall be of no further force and effect
as of October 19, 2008 except for those provisions that by
their terms survive termination of such agreement.
(d) Except as set forth on
Section 6.8(d) of the Clearwire Disclosure Schedule, as of the
Closing, each of the registration rights agreements set forth on
Section 6.8(d) of the Clearwire Disclosure Schedule shall be
of no further force and effect. Clearwire is not party to any
registration rights agreements with respect to Clearwire Capital
Stock other than those set forth on Section 6.8(d) of the
Clearwire Disclosure Schedule.
SECTION 6.9 Compliance
with Law . Each of Clearwire and its Subsidiaries (since the
time of formation or acquisition thereof by Clearwire) has been
operated at all times in compliance with all Laws applicable to
Clearwire or any of its Subsidiaries or by
32
which any property, business or asset of
Clearwire or any of its Subsidiaries is bound or affected or given
written notice of any violation of any such Laws, other than
failures to comply with or violation of such Laws that individually
or in the aggregate would not reasonably be expected to result,
individually or in the aggregate, in a Clearwire Material Adverse
Effect.
SECTION 6.10 Required
Filings and Consents . The execution and delivery of this
Agreement by Clearwire and the consummation by Clearwire and its
Subsidiaries of the Transactions contemplated by this Agreement do
not, and the performance of this Agreement by Clearwire will not,
require any consent, approval, authorization or permit of, or
filing with or notification to, any Governmental Authority, except
for the Governmental Consents or where the failure to obtain those
consents, approvals, authorizations or permits, or to make those
filings or notifications, would not, individually or in the
aggregate, prevent or materially delay the performance by Clearwire
of any of its obligations under this Agreement or the performance
by Clearwire and its Subsidiaries of the Transactions contemplated
by this Agreement.
SECTION 6.11 Clearwire
Non-FCC Licenses . Clearwire owns or possesses all of the
Governmental Licenses (other than the Clearwire Licenses) that are
necessary to enable it to carry on the business that relates to the
Clearwire Assets except where the failure to so possess would not
reasonably be expected to result in a Clearwire Material Adverse
Effect. All Governmental Licenses owned or possessed by Clearwire
(other than the Clearwire Licenses) are valid, binding, and in full
force and effect, except as would not reasonably be expected to
result, individually or in the aggregate, in a Clearwire Material
Adverse Effect.
SECTION 6.12 SEC
Documents; Financial Statements .
(a) Clearwire has filed all
reports, schedules, forms, statements and other documents
(including exhibits and other information incorporated in those
documents) with the SEC required to be filed by Clearwire in
connection with and since its initial public offering (the “
SEC Documents ”). The SEC Documents include, without
limitation, the final prospectus filed by Clearwire under Rule
424(b)(4) on March 8, 2007 (SEC File Number 333-139460), the
Annual Report on Form 10-K filed by Clearwire on March 13,
2008, the Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed by Clearwire on
May 15, 2007, August 9, 2007 and November 14,
2007, the Current Reports on Form 8-K filed by Clearwire and all of
its other statements, schedules and registration statements filed
with the SEC.
(b) As of the dates of the
respective filings, the SEC Documents complied as to form with the
requirements of the Securities Act and the Exchange Act applicable
to such SEC Documents, as the case may be.
(c) Except to the extent that
information contained in any SEC Document has been revised,
amended, supplemented or superseded by a later-filed SEC Document,
none of the SEC Documents contains any untrue statement of a
material fact or omits to state any material fact required to be
stated in the SEC Documents or necessary in order to make the
statements in the SEC Documents, in light of the circumstances
under which they were made, not misleading.
33
(d) Each of the Financial
Statements (including the related notes) of Clearwire included in
the SEC Documents complied at the time it was filed as to form in
all material respects with the applicable accounting requirements
and the published rules and regulations of the SEC with respect
thereto, was prepared in accordance with generally accepted
accounting principles in the United States (“ GAAP
”) (except, in the case of unaudited statements, as permitted
by the rules and regulations of the SEC) applied on a consistent
basis during the periods involved (except as may be indicated in
the notes thereto) and fairly presented in all material respects
the consolidated financial position of Clearwire and its
consolidated Subsidiaries as of the dates of the SEC Documents and
the consolidated results of their operations and cash flows for the
periods then ended (subject, in the case of unaudited statements,
to normal year-end audit adjustments). Since December 31,
2007, Clearwire has not made any change in the accounting practices
or policies applied in the preparation of its financial statements,
except as required by GAAP, SEC rule or policy or applicable
Law.
(e) Except as disclosed in
the SEC Documents filed by Clearwire and publicly available before
the Execution Date, neither Clearwire nor any of its Subsidiaries
has any liabilities or obligations of any nature (whether accrued,
absolute, contingent, determined, determinable or otherwise) that
(i) as of the Execution Date, would have been required to be
included on a consolidated balance sheet (or the footnotes thereto)
of Clearwire prepared in accordance with GAAP or
(ii) individually or in the aggregate have had or would
reasonably be expected to result in a Clearwire Material Adverse
Effect.
(f) Clearwire has furnished
or made available to Sprint and the Investors a complete and
correct copy of any amendments or modifications that have not yet
been filed with the SEC to agreements, documents or other
instruments that previously had been filed by Clearwire with the
SEC as exhibits to the SEC Documents under the Securities Act and
the rules and regulations promulgated under the Securities Act or
the Exchange Act.
(g) Clearwire has established
and maintains disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in
Rule 13a-15 under the Exchange Act) designed to ensure that
material information relating to Clearwire, including its
consolidated Subsidiaries, is made known to Clearwire’s
principal executive officer and its principal financial officer by
others within those entities. To the Knowledge of Clearwire, such
disclosure controls and procedures are effective in timely alerting
Clearwire’s principal executive officer and principal
financial officer to material information required to be included
in Clearwire’s periodic reports required under the Exchange
Act.
(h) Clearwire and its
Subsidiaries have established and maintained a system of internal
control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15 under
the Exchange Act) that are sufficient to provide reasonable
assurance regarding the reliability of Clearwire’s financial
reporting and the preparation of the Financial Statements of
Clearwire for external purposes in accordance with GAAP. Clearwire
has disclosed, based on its most recent evaluation of internal
controls prior to the date hereof, to Clearwire’s auditors
and audit committee (i) any significant deficiencies and
material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal controls
which are reasonably likely to
34
adversely affect
Clearwire’s ability to record, process, summarize and report
financial information and (ii) any fraud, whether or not
material, that involves management or other employees who have a
significant role in internal controls. Clearwire has made available
to Sprint and the Investors a summary of any such disclosure made
by management to Clearwire’s auditors and audit
committee.
(i) There are no outstanding
loans or other extensions of credit made by Clearwire or any of its
Subsidiaries to any executive officer (as defined in Rule 3b-7
under the Exchange Act) or director of Clearwire. Clearwire has not
taken any action prohibited by Section 402 of the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
(j) As of the date of this
Agreement, there are no outstanding or unresolved comments in the
comment letters received from the SEC staff with respect to the SEC
Documents. To the Knowledge of Clearwire, none of the SEC Documents
is subject to ongoing review or outstanding SEC comment or
investigation.
(k) Since January 1,
2007, (i) neither Clearwire nor any of its Subsidiaries nor,
to the Knowledge of Clearwire, any director, officer, employee,
auditor, accountant or representative of Clearwire or any of its
Subsidiaries has received or otherwise had or obtained knowledge of
any material complaint, allegation, assertion or claim, whether
written or oral, regarding the accounting or auditing practices,
procedures, methodologies or methods of Clearwire or any of its
Subsidiaries or their respective internal accounting controls,
which asserts that Clearwire or any of its Subsidiaries has engaged
in questionable accounting or auditing practices and (ii) no
attorney representing Clearwire or any of its Subsidiaries, whether
or not employed by Clearwire or any of its Subsidiaries, has
reported evidence of a material violation of securities Laws,
breach of fiduciary duty or similar violation by Clearwire or any
of its officers, directors, employees or agents to
Clearwire’s Board of Directors or any committee thereof or to
any director or officer of Clearwire.
(l) No Subsidiary of
Clearwire has a class of securities required to be registered under
the Exchange Act.
SECTION 6.13
Capitalization; Subsidiaries .
(a) The authorized Capital
Stock of Clearwire consists of 300,000,000 shares of Clearwire
Class A Common Stock, 50,000,000 shares of Clearwire Class B
Common Stock and 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock, $0.0001 par
value per share (the “ Preferred Stock ”). As of
the close of business on April 30, 2008
(i) 135,618,712 shares of
Clearwire Class A Common Stock were issued and outstanding,
all of which are validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable and
free of preemptive rights,
(ii) 28,596,685 shares of
Clearwire Class B Common Stock were issued and outstanding, all of
which are validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable and free of
preemptive rights,
35
(iii) no shares of Clearwire
Capital Stock were held in the treasury of Clearwire,
(iv) 18,862,169 shares of
Clearwire Class A Common Stock were subject to outstanding
Clearwire Stock Options, 740,000 shares of Clearwire Class A
Common Stock were subject to outstanding Clearwire restricted stock
units and 5,445,317 shares of Clearwire Class A Common Stock
were authorized and reserved for future issuance under the
Clearwire Stock Option Plans,
(v) 17,806,220 shares of
Clearwire Class A Common Stock were subject to outstanding
Clearwire Warrants and 17,806,220 shares of Clearwire Class A
Common Stock were authorized and reserved for future issuance under
the Clearwire Warrant Agreements, and
(vi) no shares of Preferred
Stock were issued or outstanding.
(b) Section 6.13(b) of
the Clearwire Disclosure Schedule sets forth a true and complete
list of the outstanding Clearwire Stock Options and Clearwire
Warrants with the exercise prices thereof and number of shares of
Clearwire Class A Common Stock subject thereto as of the close
of business on April 30, 2008.
(c) Except as set forth in
Section 6.13(a) above or in Section 6.13(b) of the
Clearwire Disclosure Schedule and except for changes since
April 30, 2008 expressly permitted by
Section 10.1(b)(iv), or otherwise consented to in accordance
with this Agreement, there are no outstanding (i) shares of
Capital Stock of Clearwire and (ii) options, warrants,
convertible securities, subscriptions, stock appreciation rights,
phantom stock plans or stock equivalents or other rights,
agreements, arrangements or commitments (contingent or otherwise)
of any character issued or authorized by Clearwire or any
Subsidiary of Clearwire relating to the issued or unissued Capital
Stock of Clearwire or any Subsidiary of Clearwire or obligating
Clearwire or any Subsidiary of Clearwire to issue or sell any
shares of Capital Stock of, or options, warrants, convertible
securities, subscriptions or other equity interests in, Clearwire
or any Subsidiary of Clearwire. All shares of Capital Stock of
Clearwire or any Subsidiary of Clearwire subject to issuance as
aforesaid, upon issuance on the terms and conditions specified in
the instruments under which they are issuable, will be duly
authorized, validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable. There are
no outstanding contractual obligations of Clearwire or any
Subsidiary of Clearwire to repurchase, redeem or otherwise acquire
any shares of Clearwire Capital Stock or any Capital Stock of any
Subsidiary of Clearwire or to pay any dividend or make any other
distribution in respect thereof or to provide funds to, or make any
investment (in the form of a loan, capital contribution or
otherwise) in, any Person.
(d) Immediately following the
Closing and after giving effect to the Transactions (other than the
Adjustment), and excluding changes since April 30, 2008
expressly permitted by Section 10.1(b)(iv) or otherwise
consented to in accordance with this Agreement:
(i) with respect to NewCo,
there will be outstanding (A) a total of 189,215,397 shares of
Class A Common Stock (plus up to 740,000 shares of
Class A Common Stock issuable on the exercise of restricted
stock units, up to 18,862,169 shares of Class A Common Stock
issuable on the exercise of Clearwire Stock Options, up to
17,806,220 shares of Class A Common Stock issuable on the
exercise of Clearwire Warrants, in each case outstanding
immediately prior to the Effective Time and adjusted at the
Effective Time in accordance with Sections 2.7 and 2.8) and
(B) a total of 505,000,000 shares of Class B Common
Stock;
36
(ii) with respect to NewCo
LLC, there will be outstanding (A) a total of 694,215,397
Voting Units, (B) 189,215,397 Class A Common Units and
(C) 505,000,000 Class B Common Units outstanding;
and
(iii) except as contemplated
by Section 2.8 of the Equityholders’ Agreement, there
will be no other outstanding (A) shares of Capital Stock of
NewCo or NewCo LLC or (B) options, warrants, convertible
securities, subscriptions, stock appreciation rights, phantom stock
plans or stock equivalents or other rights, agreements,
arrangements or commitments (contingent or otherwise) of any
character issued or authorized by NewCo, NewCo LLC or any
Subsidiary of NewCo or NewCo LLC relating to the issued or unissued
Capital Stock of NewCo or NewCo LLC or obligating NewCo or NewCo
LLC to issue or sell any shares of Capital Stock of, or options,
warrants, convertible securities, subscriptions or other equity
interests in, NewCo or NewCo LLC.
(e) The shares of
Class A Common Stock to be issued as Merger Consideration and
the Class B Common Units, Voting Units, Class A Common Units,
shares of Class A Common Stock and shares of Class B Common
Stock to be issued in connection with the formation of NewCo LLC,
the Merger, the LLC Contribution and the Investments by the
Investors pursuant to Articles 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively, when
issued and delivered in accordance with the terms of this
Agreement, will have been duly authorized, validly issued, fully
paid and nonassessable and free of Encumbrances, preemptive rights
or other similar rights, other than Encumbrances created by the
Equityholders’ Agreement.
(f) Section 6.13(f) of
the Clearwire Disclosure Schedule, sets forth a correct and
complete list of each Subsidiary of Clearwire. Except as set forth
in Section 6.13(f) of the Clearwire Disclosure Schedule,
Clearwire owns beneficially and of record all of the issued and
outstanding Capital Stock of each Subsidiary of Clearwire and does
not own an equity interest in any other corporation, association,
partnership, limited liability company or other entity, other than
in its Subsidiaries. Each outstanding share of Capital Stock of
each Subsidiary of Clearwire is duly authorized, validly issued,
fully paid and nonassessable and each share of Capital Stock of
each Subsidiary of Clearwire owned by Clearwire or another
Subsidiary of Clearwire is free and clear of all
Encumbrances.
SECTION 6.14 Absence of
Certain Changes or Events . Except as contemplated by this
Agreement or as disclosed in the SEC Documents filed before the
date
37
hereof, since December 31, 2007,
Clearwire and its Subsidiaries have conducted their respective
businesses in the ordinary course of business and there has not
been: (a) any event, occurrence or development of any
condition that has had or would reasonably be expected to have,
individually or in the aggregate, a Clearwire Material Adverse
Effect, (b) any declaration, setting aside or payment of any
dividend or any other distribution with respect to any of the
Capital Stock of Clearwire or any Subsidiary of Clearwire,
(c) any material change in accounting methods, principles or
practices employed by Clearwire, (d) any Bankruptcy of any
such Person, or (e) any transfer to a third party of any
Clearwire License or Clearwire Lease (other than spectrum swaps in
the ordinary course of business).
SECTION 6.15 Change of
Control Agreements . Except as set forth in Section 6.15
of the Clearwire Disclosure Schedule, neither the execution and
delivery of this Agreement, the Merger nor the other Transactions
contemplated by this Agreement will (either alone or in conjunction
with any other event) result in, cause the accelerated vesting or
delivery of, trigger any payment or funding (through a grantor
trust or otherwise) of, or increase the amount or value of, any
payment or benefit to any director, officer, employee or consultant
of Clearwire or any of its Subsidiaries. Except as previously
disclosed to Sprint and the Investors in writing expressly
referencing this Section 6.15, and without limiting the
generality of the foregoing, no amount paid or payable by Clearwire
or any of its Subsidiaries in connection with the Merger or the
other Transactions contemplated by this Agreement, including
accelerated vesting of options (either solely as a result thereof
or as a result of those Transactions in conjunction with any other
event), will be an “excess parachute payment” within
the meaning of Section 280G of the Code.
SECTION 6.16 Employee
Benefit Plans . All employee benefit plans (as defined in
Section 3(3) of ERISA), incentive plans or other benefit
arrangements of Clearwire or any of its Subsidiaries which cover
current or former officers, directors, employees or contractors of
Clearwire or any of its Subsidiaries and with respect to which
Clearwire or any of its Subsidiaries have any material liability
(the “ Clearwire Benefit Plans ”) and all
agreements providing for compensation, severance, change in control
or other benefits to any current or former officer or director of
Clearwire or any of its Subsidiaries are listed in
Section 6.16 of the Clearwire Disclosure Schedule. True,
correct and complete copies of the following documents with respect
to each of the Clearwire Benefit Plans have been provided by
Clearwire to the other Parties:
(a) any plans and related
trust documents and amendments thereto, and
(b) summary plan descriptions
and material modifications thereto.
To the extent applicable, the
Clearwire Benefit Plans comply by their terms and in their
operation with the requirements of the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ ERISA ”),
and the Code and other applicable Law other than instances of
non-compliance that individually or in the aggregate would not
reasonably be expected to result in a Clearwire Material Adverse
Effect, and any Clearwire Benefit Plan intended to satisfy the
requirements under Section 401(a) of the Code or comparable
foreign Law has received a determination or opinion by the proper
Governmental Authority that such plan satisfies such requirements.
Neither Clearwire nor any of its Subsidiaries nor any of their
ERISA Affiliates (as
38
defined below) has any liabilities with
respect to any benefit plan that is covered by Title IV of ERISA or
Section 412 of the Code, and neither Clearwire nor any
Subsidiaries has any liabilities under any defined benefit plan (as
defined in Section 3(35) of ERISA) which is maintained
primarily for employees who work outside the United States and
which is not subject to Title IV of ERISA or Section 412 of
the Code. Neither any Clearwire Benefit Plan, nor Clearwire nor any
Subsidiary of Clearwire has incurred or will incur any liability or
penalty under Section 4975 of the Code or Section 502(i)
of ERISA or a comparable foreign Law that is reasonably expected to
have a Clearwire Material Adverse Effect. There is no pending or,
to the Knowledge of Clearwire, threatened or anticipated Proceeding
that is reasonably expected to have a Clearwire Material Adverse
Effect against or otherwise involving any of the Clearwire Benefit
Plans and no Proceeding that is reasonably expected to have a
Clearwire Material Adverse Effect (excluding claims for benefits
incurred in the ordinary course of Clearwire Benefit Plan
activities) has been brought against or with respect to any
Clearwire Benefit Plan. Except as required by Law, neither
Clearwire nor any of its Subsidiaries has any liability in an
amount that would reasonably be expected to have a Clearwire
Material Adverse Effect to provide life insurance or medical or
other employee welfare benefits to any employee or former employee
on his retirement or termination of employment.
Except as would not
reasonably be expected to have a Clearwire Material Adverse Effect,
(i) any individual who has performed services for Clearwire or
any of its Subsidiaries (other than through a contract with an
organization other than the individual) and who has not been
treated as an employee for tax purposes by Clearwire or its
Subsidiaries is or was not an employee for such purposes, and
(ii) no individual who performs services for Clearwire or any
of its Subsidiaries has been improperly excluded from participation
in any Clearwire Benefit Plan.
For purposes of this
Agreement “ ERISA Affiliate ” means any business
or entity that is a member of the same “controlled group of
corporations”, an “affiliated service group” or
is under “common control” with an entity within the
meanings of Sections 414(b), (c) or (m) of the Code, is
required to be aggregated with the entity under Section 414(o)
of the Code, or is under “common control” with the
entity, within the meaning of Section 4001(a)(14) of ERISA, or
any regulations promulgated or proposed under any of the foregoing
Sections.
Except as would not
reasonably be expected to have a Clearwire Material Adverse Effect,
(x) no amount previously deducted by Clearwire, and
(y) no amount paid or payable with respect to any compensation
or benefit paid, awarded, or granted prior to the date hereof,
would reasonably be expected to be disallowed under
Section 162(m) of the Code. Except as would not reasonably be
expected to result in material liability to Clearwire and its
Subsidiaries, no Clearwire Benefit Plan is currently in violation
of Section 409A of the Code and any regulations or Treasury
guidance promulgated thereunder.
No Clearwire Stock Option is
intended to qualify as an “incentive stock option”
under Section 422 of the Code.
SECTION 6.17 Labor and
Employment Matters .
(a) Neither Clearwire nor any
of the Domestic Clearwire Subsidiaries is a party to, or bound by,
or is currently negotiating in connection with entering into,
any
39
collective bargaining
agreement or other contract, arrangement, agreement or
understanding with a labor union or labor organization and, to the
Knowledge of Clearwire, there has not been any activity or
proceeding of any labor organization or employee group to organize
any employees of Clearwire or any of the Domestic Clearwire
Subsidiaries.
(b) Neither Clearwire nor any
of the Domestic Clearwire Subsidiaries has taken any action that
would constitute a “mass layoff” or “plant
closing” within the meaning of the Worker Adjustment and
Retraining Notification Act or would otherwise trigger notice
requirements or liability under any state, local or foreign plant
closing notice Law.
(c) There are no
investigations, administrative proceedings, charges or formal
complaints of discrimination (including discrimination based on
sex, age, marital status, race, national origin, sexual preference,
disability, handicap or veteran status) that are reasonably
expected to have, individually or in the aggregate, a Clearwire
Material Adverse Effect pending or, to the Knowledge of Clearwire,
threatened before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or
any federal, state or local agency or court against or involving
Clearwire or any of its Subsidiaries. No discrimination, sexual
harassment, retaliation or wrongful or tortious conduct claim that
is reasonably expected to have a Clearwire Material Adverse Effect
is pending or, to the Knowledge of Clearwire, threatened against
Clearwire or any of its Subsidiaries under the 1866, 1877, 1964 or
1991 Civil Rights Acts, the Equal Pay Act, the Age Discrimination
in Employment Act, as amended, the Americans with Disabilities Act,
the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act,
ERISA, or any other federal Law relating to employment or any
comparable state or local fair employment practices act regulating
discrimination in the workplace, and no wrongful discharge, libel,
slander, invasion of privacy or other claim that is reasonably
expected to have, individually or in the aggregate, a Clearwire
Material Adverse Effect (including violations of the Fair Credit
Reporting Act, as amended, and any applicable whistleblower
statutes) under any state or federal Law is pending or, to the
Knowledge of Clearwire, threatened against Clearwire or any of its
Subsidiaries.
(d) If Clearwire or any of
its Subsidiaries is a federal, state or local contractor obligated
to develop and maintain an affirmative action plan, no
discrimination claim, show-cause notice, conciliation proceeding,
sanction or debarment proceeding that is reasonably expected to
have, individually or in the aggregate, a Clearwire Material
Adverse Effect is pending or, to the Knowledge of Clearwire, has
been threatened against Clearwire or any of its Subsidiaries with
the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs or any other
federal agency or any comparable state or local agency or court and
no desk audit or on-site review is in progress.
SECTION 6.18
Stockholders’ Rights Agreement; Antitakeover Statutes
.
(a) Neither Clearwire nor any
of its Subsidiaries has adopted a stockholders’ rights
agreement or any similar plan or agreement that limits or impairs
the ability to purchase, or become the direct or indirect
beneficial owner of, Clearwire Capital Stock or any other equity or
debt securities of Clearwire or any of its Subsidiaries.
40
(b) Clearwire has taken all
action necessary to exempt the Merger, this Agreement and the
Transactions contemplated by this Agreement from Section 203
of the DGCL, and, accordingly, neither such Section nor any other
antitakeover or similar statute or regulation applies to any such
transactions. No other “control share acquisition,”
“fair price,” “moratorium,” or other
antitakeover laws enacted under U.S. state or federal laws apply to
this Agreement or any of the Transactions contemplated by this
Agreement.
SECTION 6.19 Brokers .
Except as set forth in Section 6.19 of the Clearwire
Disclosure Schedule, no broker, finder or investment banker is
entitled to any brokerage, finder’s or other fee or
commission in connection with this Agreement, the Merger or the
other Transactions contemplated by this Agreement based on
arrangements made by or on behalf of Clearwire. Clearwire has
delivered to Sprint and the Investors a complete and correct copy
of all agreements between Clearwire and the Independent Advisor
under which that firm would be entitled to any payment relating to
this Agreement, the Merger or the other Transactions contemplated
by this Agreement.
SECTION 6.20 Information
Supplied . None of the information supplied or to be supplied
by Clearwire or its Subsidiaries for inclusion or incorporation by
reference in the Proxy Statement to be mailed to Clearwire’s
stockholders in connection with the meeting (the “
Stockholders’ Meeting ”) to be called to
consider the Merger (the “ Proxy Statement ”) or
the Registration Statement, or any amendments or supplements
thereto will, at the dates those documents are first published,
sent or delivered to Clearwire’s stockholders contain any
untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material
fact required to be stated in the Proxy Statement or Registration
Statement or necessary in order to make the statements made in the
Proxy Statement or Registration Statement, in light of the
circumstances under which they were made, not misleading. Each of
the Proxy Statement and Registration Statement at the dates those
documents are first published, sent or delivered to
Clearwire’s stockholders or, unless promptly corrected, at
any time during the pendency of the Stockholders’ Meeting
will not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to
state any material fact required to be stated in the Proxy
Statement or Registration Statement or necessary in order to make
the statements made in the Proxy Statement or Registration
Statement, in light of the circumstances under which they were
made, not misleading. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no
representation or warranty is made by any Party with respect to
statements made or incorporated by reference in the Proxy Statement
or Registration Statement based on information supplied by the
other Parties for inclusion or incorporation by reference in any of
the foregoing documents.
SECTION 6.21 Certain
Ancillary Agreements . As of the Execution Date, other than
(i) this Agreement, (ii) the Ancillary Agreements,
(iii) the other documents expressly contemplated by this
Agreement and (iv) any confidentiality agreements between or
among two or more of the Parties entered into prior to the
Execution Date (the agreements referred to in clauses
(i) through (iv), collectively, the “ Transaction
Related Agreements ”), neither Clearwire nor any of its
Affiliates has entered into any contract, agreement, arrangement or
other understanding, whether written or oral, and regardless of the
subject matter thereof, with
41
any other Party or any of their
respective Affiliates, in each case, in connection with or in
consideration of the transactions contemplated by the Transaction
Related Agreements, including, without limitation, any term sheet,
letter of intent, memorandum of understanding or “agreement
to agree,” in each case, whether or not such agreement
purports to be binding.
ARTICLE 7
REPRESENTATIONS AND
WARRANTIES OF SPRINT
Except as disclosed in the
disclosure letter (the “ Sprint Disclosure Schedule
”) delivered by Sprint to Clearwire and the Investors prior
to the execution of this Agreement (which letter sets forth items
of disclosure with specific reference to the particular Section or
subsection of this Agreement to which the information in the Sprint
Disclosure Schedule relates), except
(A) that any information set
forth in one section of the Sprint Disclosure Schedule will be
deemed to apply to each other Section or subsection of this
Agreement to which its relevance is reasonably apparent from a
reasonable reading thereof to a reasonable person without
independent knowledge of the matters so disclosed; and
(B) notwithstanding anything
in this Agreement to the contrary, the inclusion of an item in such
schedule as an exception to a representation or warranty will not
be deemed an admission that such item represents a material
exception or material fact, event or circumstance or that such item
has had or would reasonably be expected to have a Sprint Material
Adverse Effect),
Sprint represents and
warrants to the other Parties as of the Execution Date and the
Closing Date as follows:
SECTION 7.1 Organization;
Authorization .
(a) Sprint and each
Subsidiary of Sprint that is or will be a party to an Ancillary
Agreement is duly organized, validly existing and in good standing
under the Laws of its jurisdiction of formation and has all
corporate, limited liability company or similar powers and all
Governmental Licenses required to carry on its business as now
conducted, except for those Governmental Licenses the absence of
which would not reasonably be expected to result, individually or
in the aggregate, in a Sprint Material Adverse Effect. Sprint and
each Subsidiary of Sprint that is or will be a party to an
Ancillary Agreement has all requisite power and authority to enter
into this Agreement and each Ancillary Agreement to which it is a
party and to perform the obligations to be performed by it under
this Agreement and each such Ancillary Agreement. Sprint and each
Subsidiary of Sprint that is or will be a party to an Ancillary
Agreement is duly qualified to do business as a foreign entity and
is in good standing under the Laws of each state or other
jurisdiction in which the ownership of assets by it or the nature
of the activities conducted by it requires such qualification,
except where the failure to so qualify would not reasonably be
expected to result, individually or in the aggregate, in a Sprint
Material Adverse Effect.
42
The execution and delivery of
this Agreement and the Ancillary Agreements to which Sprint or any
Subsidiary of Sprint is or will be a party, and the performance by
Sprint or such Subsidiary of its respective obligations under this
Agreement and the Ancillary Agreements to which it is or will be a
party, have been duly authorized by all necessary actions on the
part of Sprint or such Subsidiary. This Agreement has been, and the
Ancillary Agreements to which it or a Subsidiary of Sprint will be
a party at Closing will be, duly executed and delivered by Sprint
or such Subsidiary, and constitutes, and will constitute, a legal,
valid and binding obligation of Sprint or such Subsidiary, as the
case may be, enforceable against it or such Subsidiary in
accordance with its terms, subject to the Bankruptcy
Exception.
(b) Each of the Transfer
Entities is, or on the Closing Date will be, a limited liability
company duly organized, validly existing and in good standing under
the Laws of its jurisdiction of incorporation or formation. Each of
the Transfer Entities is duly qualified to do business as a foreign
entity and is in good standing under the Laws of each state or
other jurisdiction in which the ownership of assets by it or the
nature of the activities conducted by it requires the
qualification, except where the failure to so qualify would not
reasonably be expected to result in a Sprint Material Adverse
Effect. Each of the Transfer Entities has, and Sprint Sub LLC on
the Closing Date will have, all requisite power and authority to
enter into each Ancillary Agreement to which it will be a party and
to perform the obligations to be performed by it under each such
Ancillary Agreement. Sprint has made available to Clearwire and the
Investors true and complete copies of the organizational documents
of each of the Transfer Entities, each as amended to date, and will
have made available to Clearwire and the Investors true and
complete copies of the organizational documents of Sprint Sub LLC
prior to the Closing Date. The organizational documents of each of
the Transfer Entities are, and the organizational documents of
Sprint Sub LLC will be, in full force and effect, and no Transfer
Entity is, and as of the Closing Date Sprint Sub LLC will not be,
in violation of any provision of its organizational documents,
except as would not reasonably be expected to result in a Sprint
Material Adverse Effect.
(c) Sprint or one of its
Subsidiaries owns beneficially and of record all of the issued and
outstanding Capital Stock of the Transfer Entities, and immediately
prior to the Closing, Sprint Sub LLC. The Capital Stock of the
Transfer Entities is, and the Capital Stock of Sprint Sub LLC as of
the Closing Date will be, duly authorized, validly issued, fully
paid and non-assessable, free and clear of any Encumbrance. There
are not any outstanding securities convertible into, exchangeable
for, or carrying the right to acquire, the Capital Stock of the
Transfer Entities, or as of the Closing Date, the Capital Stock of
Sprint Sub LLC, nor are there any subscriptions, warrants, options,
rights or other arrangements or commitments that could obligate
Sprint Sub LLC and the Transfer Entities to issue any Capital
Stock. The Transfer Entities are listed in Section 7.1(c) of
the Sprint Disclosure Schedule and, except as listed in
Section 7.1(c) of the Sprint Disclosure Schedule, the Transfer
Entities do not own, and as of the Closing Date Sprint Sub LLC will
not own, directly or indirectly, any Capital Stock of any
Person.
(d) At Closing, the Transfer
Entities will own all assets owned by Sprint and its Subsidiaries
that are primarily used in the operation of the Sprint WiMAX
Business,
43
including the Sprint Assets,
free and clear of any Encumbrance. Such assets together with those
assets that are owned by Sprint and its Subsidiaries and made
available to NewCo under the Network Master Services Agreement, the
IT Master Services Agreement, the Master Site Agreement and the
Intellectual Property Rights Agreement constitute all of the assets
owned by Sprint or its Subsidiaries that are primarily used in or
otherwise material to the operation of the Sprint WiMAX Business as
currently conducted.
(e) As of the Closing, each
of Sprint HoldCo LLC and Sprint Sub LLC will be a limited liability
company duly organized, validly existing and in good standing under
the Laws of the jurisdiction of its formation and will have all
limited liability company power and all Governmental Licenses
required to carry on its business as then being conducted, except
for those Governmental Licenses the absence of which would not be
reasonably expected to result, individually or in the aggregate, in
a Sprint Material Adverse Effect. As of the Closing, each of Sprint
HoldCo LLC and Sprint Sub LLC will be as of the Closing duly
qualified to do business as a foreign entity and in good standing
under the Laws of each state or other jurisdiction in which the
ownership of assets by it or the nature of the activities conducted
by it requires such qualification, except where the failure to be
so qualified and in good standing, would not reasonably be expected
to result, individually or in the aggregate, in a Sprint Material
Adverse Effect. Since the date of its formation, each of Sprint
HoldCo LLC and Sprint Sub LLC will not have engaged in any
activities and will not have any Liabilities other than in
connection with, or as contemplated by, this Agreement and the
Transactions.
SECTION 7.2
Non-Contravention . The execution, delivery and performance
of this Agreement and the Ancillary Agreements to which it or any
Subsidiary of Sprint is or will be at Closing a party, the
consummation of the Transactions and the fulfillment of and
compliance with the terms and conditions of this Agreement and the
Ancillary Agreements to which it or any Subsidiary of Sprint is or
will be at Closing a party do not and will not result in the
imposition of any Encumbrance and do not or will not (as the case
may be), with the passing of time or the giving of notice or both,
violate or conflict with, constitute a breach of or default under,
result in the loss of any benefit under, permit the acceleration of
any obligation under or create in any party the right to terminate,
modify or cancel,
(a) any term or provision of
the certificate of incorporation or bylaws of Sprint or the other
organizational documents of Sprint Sub LLC or any Transfer
Entity,
(b) any Sprint Lease or any
Sprint License,
(c) any contractual
obligation (other than any Sprint Lease) of Sprint or any of its
Subsidiaries,
(d) any Governmental License
(other than any Sprint License) held by Sprint or any of its
Subsidiaries in connection with the Sprint WiMAX Business or by any
Transfer Entity or any Sprint License,
44
(e) any judgment, decree or
order of any Governmental Authority to which Sprint, Sprint Sub LLC
or any Transfer Entity is a party or by which Sprint, Sprint Sub
LLC, any Sprint Asset, any Transfer Entity or any of its properties
are bound, or
(f) any Law applicable to any
Sprint Asset and in existence on the Execution Date,
in the case of each of
clauses (b) through (f), except as would not reasonably be
expected to result in a Sprint Material Adverse Effect.
SECTION 7.3 Sprint
Licenses .
(a) Description .
Section 7.3 of the Sprint Disclosure Schedule sets forth:
(i) a true and complete list, as of the Execution Date, of
each of the Sprint Licenses, (ii) the lawful, beneficial and
exclusive holder of each Sprint License, and (iii) the BTA,
call sign or other identifying information for each Sprint License.
As of April 30, 2008, the number of MHz-Pops covered by Sprint
Licenses and spectrum rights that are subject to Sprint In-Leases,
less the number of MHz-Pops covered by the spectrum rights that are
subject to the Sprint Out-Leases, is at least
28,989,000,000.
(b) Validity
.
(i) The grant, renewal or
assignment of the Sprint Licenses to the existing licensee of each
Sprint License was approved by the FCC by Final Order, and the
Sprint Licenses are validly issued and in full force and
effect.
(ii) Other than Proceedings
of general applicability, there is no Proceeding pending or, to the
Knowledge of Sprint, threatened before the FCC, that, if determined
as requested by the moving party or as indicated in any document
initiating the Proceeding, could result in the revocation,
modification, restriction, cancellation, termination, suspension or
non-renewal of any Sprint License or other action that is adverse
to holder of the License, or the imposition of a material monetary
fine, nor does Sprint have Knowledge of any facts or circumstances
which, if asserted, would reasonably be expected to result in any
such action. Timely payments have been made to the United States
Government for those of the Sprint Licenses that are BTA
authorizations.
(iii) Neither Sprint nor any
of its Affiliates is a party to any contract, agreement or other
arrangement to assign or otherwise dispose of, or that would
adversely affect, NewCo’s or its Subsidiaries’
ownership of, any material Sprint License after the Effective
Time.
(c) License Facilities
.
(i) The facilities subject to
a Sprint License as of the Execution Date are listed in
Section 7.3(c)(i) of the Sprint Disclosure Schedule (the
“ Sprint License Facilities ”);
45
(ii) Adequate facilities were
constructed and operated within the timeframe required by
then-applicable FCC Rules (or waivers or extensions thereof) to
satisfy construction and operating requirements applicable to each
Sprint License;
(iii) the Sprint License
Facilities since the acquisition of the Sprint Licenses, and to the
Knowledge of Sprint, at all times, have been operating in material
compliance with the FCC authorizations and the FCC Rules, except
where the facilities were not required to operate under FCC Rules
or by grant of authority from the FCC;
(iv) none of the Sprint
License Facilities (A) is authorized under an authorization
that is subject to challenge before the United States Court of
Appeals or (B) is subject to any lease, sublease or any
agreement that grants to any third Person the right, contingent or
otherwise, to use, acquire or make it available to, or for use by,
a third Person;
(v) no Sprint License is
subject to (A) a revocation proceeding or (B) a pending
request for waiver of Section 21.303 of the FCC Rules or any
successor provision thereto;
(vi) Except as set forth on
Section 7.3(c)(vi) of the Sprint Disclosure Schedule, no
Sprint Licenses or Sprint License Facilities are subject to any
contract or other agreement providing for the relocation of
wireless facilities or the sharing of any costs associated with any
such relocation with respect to the Sprint Licenses; and
(vii) no Sprint License
Facilities are operating under special temporary or developmental
authority.
(d) All reports required to
be filed by Sprint with the FCC with respect to the Sprint Licenses
have been timely filed except where the failure to so timely file
would not reasonably be expected to result in a Sprint Material
Adverse Effect. To the Knowledge of Sprint, all reports filed with
the FCC relating to the Sprint Licenses are complete and
accurate.
(e) Sprint has delivered or
made available to Clearwire and the Investors true and complete
copies of all authorizations comprising each Sprint License, and,
except for documents otherwise publicly-available, all documents
filed in, and all notices or orders issued in connection with, any
Proceeding pending at the FCC relating to the Sprint
Licenses.
SECTION 7.4 Sprint
Leases .
(a) Section 7.4 of the
Sprint Disclosure Schedule sets forth: (i) a true and complete
list, as of the Execution Date, of each of the Sprint Leases,
(ii) the lawful, beneficial and exclusive holder of each
Sprint Lease, (iii) the licensee or sublessor, as applicable,
for each such Sprint Lease, and (iv) the BTA, call sign or
other identifying information for each Sprint Lease.
46
(b) Each Sprint Lease is
valid, binding and in full force and effect, meets in all material
respects all requirements of Law, and is enforceable in accordance
with its terms, except as may be modified by FCC Rules and subject
to the Bankruptcy Exception. The applicable Sprint entity is the
lessee or sublessee under each Sprint Lease (by entry into the
Sprint Lease, assignment of the Lease, transfer of rights or other
means) and, except with respect to any capacity of EBS spectrum
retained by the holder of the License, has the sole right to use
the spectrum under each Sprint Lease. To the Knowledge of Sprint,
other than the terms of each Sprint Lease, the FCC Rules limiting
the duration of any Sprint Lease, the FCC’s renewal of the
underlying License and the FCC’s renewal of its consent to
any Sprint De Facto Transfer Lease, there are no facts or
circumstances that would reasonably be likely to (whether with or
without notice, lapse of time or the occurrence of any other event)
preclude the renewal or extension of any Sprint Lease in the
ordinary course of business.
(c) Sprint and its
Subsidiaries are not, nor to the Knowledge of Sprint, is any other
party to any of the material Sprint Leases in material breach or
default under the Sprint Leases and any material breach or default
that has been asserted by such other party, has been waived, cured
or otherwise settled.
(d) Sprint and its
Subsidiaries have not, nor to the Knowledge of Sprint, has any
other party to any of the material Sprint Leases claimed in any
written statement that the counterparty is in material breach or
default under the material Sprint Leases and any past breach or
default has been waived, cured or otherwise settled. For purposes
of this Section 7.4, any breach of a payment obligation shall
be deemed material.
(e) No party to any Sprint
Lease has claimed in writing, and to the Knowledge of Sprint, no
party has threatened, in any written statement to Sprint that the
party has a right to terminate any Sprint Lease at any time or to
seek damages against any transferor for the violation, breach or
default by any transferor of any Sprint Lease; and
(f) Sprint has delivered or
made available to Clearwire and the Investors copies of all Sprint
Leases, which are true and complete in all material
respects.
(g) Neither Sprint nor any of
its Affiliates is a party to any contract, agreement or other
arrangement to assign or otherwise dispose of, or that would
adversely affect, NewCo’s or it Subsidiaries’ ownership
of, any material Sprint Lease after the Effective Time.
(h) To the Knowledge of
Sprint:
(i) the grant, renewal or
assignment of the FCC licenses subject to the Sprint Leases (the
“ Sprint Leased FCC Licenses ”) to the existing
licensee of each Sprint Lease was approved by the FCC by Final
Order;
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(ii) the Sprint Leased FCC
Licenses are validly issued and in full force and effect;
and
(iii) other than Proceedings
of general applicability, there is no Proceeding pending or
threatened before the FCC, that, if determined as requested by the
moving party or as indicated in any document initiating the
Proceeding, could result in the revocation, modification,
restriction, cancellation, termination, suspension or non-renewal
of the Sprint Leased FCC Licenses or other action that is adverse
to the licensee of the Sprint Lease, nor is Sprint aware of any
facts which, if asserted, would be reasonably likely to result in
any such action; and
(iv) adequate facilities were
constructed and operated within the timeframe required by
then-applicable FCC Rules (or waivers or extensions thereof) to
satisfy construction and operating requirements applicable to each
Sprint Leased FCC License.
(i) Each Sprint De Facto
Transfer Lease has been granted by the FCC by Final
Order.
SECTION 7.5 Sprint Network
Assets .
(a) Section 7.5 of the
Sprint Disclosure Schedule sets forth a complete list of the Sprint
Network Assets as of the Execution Date. Except as set forth in
Section 7.5 of the Sprint Disclosure Schedule a Transfer
Entity has, or will have at Closing, good and marketable title to
each Sprint Network Asset, free and clear of all Encumbrances. In
the aggregate, the Sprint Network Assets are:
(i) in good operating
condition and in a state of good maintenance and repair, ordinary
wear and tear excepted;
(ii) usable in the regular
and ordinary course of business;
(iii) operating as intended
in accordance with normal industry practice; and
(iv) conform in all material
respects to all applicable Laws.
Sprint has no Knowledge of
any material defect with any of the material Sprint Network
Assets.
(b) Each of the Transfer
Entities and the Sprint Network Assets is in compliance with
applicable Environmental Laws in all material respects. There are
no pending or, to the Knowledge of Sprint, threatened Proceedings
alleging any material liability of, or material noncompliance by,
the Transfer Entities under applicable Environmental Laws. The
applicable Transfer Entity holds and is, or will hold at Closing
and will be, in compliance in all material respects with all
Governmental Licenses required under Environmental Laws for their
respective operations, including the Sprint Network Assets. Neither
the transfer of the Sprint Assets to the Transfer Entities nor
the
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LLC Contribution will require
compliance with the New Jersey Industrial Site Recovery Act or with
Sections 22a-134 through 22a-134e of the Connecticut General
Statutes (commonly known as the Connecticut Transfer Act), each as
amended. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement
including Section 7.9, the representations contained in this
Section 7.5 contain all representations and warranties made by
Sprint in this Agreement with respect to Environmental
Laws.
SECTION 7.6 Litigation
.
(a) There is no Proceeding
instituted or pending, or, to the Knowledge of Sprint, threatened
against Sprint or its Subsidiaries that, would reasonably be
expected to result, individually or in the aggregate, in a Sprint
Material Adverse Effect or that, as of the Execution Date, in any
manner challenges or seeks to prevent, enjoin, alter or materially
delay the Merger or the other Transactions contemplated by this
Agreement. There are no judgments, orders, injunctions, decrees,
stipulations or awards (whether rendered by a court, administrative
agency, or by arbitration, as a result of a grievance or other
procedure) against or relating to Sprint, any of its Subsidiaries
or, to the Knowledge of Sprint, any Person for whom Sprint or any
of its Subsidiaries is liable that would reasonably be expected to
result, individually or in the aggregate, in a Sprint Material
Adverse Effect or that, as of the Execution Date, in any manner
challenges or seeks to prevent, enjoin, alter or materially delay
the Merger or the other Transactions contemplated by this
Agreement.
(b) Section 7.6(b) of
the Sprint Disclosure Schedule lists all pending litigation and
material disputes regarding any Sprint License or Sprint Lease (the
“ Sprint License Disputes ”).
SECTION 7.7 Tax
.
(a) None of the Sprint Assets
is subject to any material Encumbrances for Taxes except for liens
for Taxes not yet due and payable.
(b) All material Tax Returns
required to be filed by Sprint or any of its Subsidiaries with
respect to the Sprint Assets and the business in which the Sprint
Assets have been used have been timely filed and all those Tax
Returns are true, complete and correct in all material
respects.
(c) All material Taxes owed
by Sprint and its Subsidiaries (whether or not shown on any Tax
Return) with respect to the Sprint Assets and the business in which
the Sprint Assets have been used have been paid, except for those
Taxes being contested in good faith and for which adequate reserves
have been established in Sprint’s Financial
Statements.
(d) There is no currently
pending audit or administrative or judicial proceeding with respect
to Taxes relating to the Sprint Assets and the business in which
the Sprint Assets have been used. Neither Sprint Sub LLC nor any of
the Transfer Entities is or by virtue of the LLC Contribution will
be (i) a party to or bound by any material closing agreement,
offer in compromise, gain recognition agreement or any
49
other agreement with any
Taxing Authority or any Tax indemnity or Tax sharing agreement with
any person, or (ii) a party to any waivers or extensions of
the statute of limitations with respect to material Taxes (in each
case other than with respect to Taxes that are the subject of the
indemnification provided in Section 13.1 hereof).
(e) Sprint has no Knowledge
of any proposed or threatened Tax claims or assessments with
respect to the Sprint Assets and the business in which the Sprint
Assets have been used that, if upheld, would result in the payment
of a material amount of Tax.
(f) Sprint and its
Subsidiaries have withheld and paid over to the relevant Taxing
Authorities all Taxes required to have been withheld and paid in
connection with Sprint Assets and the business in which the Sprint
Assets have been used.
(g) Neither Sprint nor any of
its Subsidiaries has, with respect to the Sprint Assets and the
business in which the Sprint Assets have been used, entered into,
or otherwise participated (directly or indirectly) in, any
“listed transaction” or any reportable transaction the
principal purpose of which was tax avoidance within the meaning of
Sections 6011, 6111 or 6112 of the Code and the Treasury
Regulations thereunder or has received a written opinion from a tax
advisor that was intended to provide protection against a tax
penalty.
(h) Sprint Sub LLC has been
since its formation and each of the Transfer Entities will be, as
of Closing, disregarded as an entity separate from its owner for
U.S. federal income tax purposes pursuant to Treasury Regulation
Section 301.7701-2(c)(2). No action has been taken by Sprint
or any of its Affiliates to treat Sprint Sub LLC or any of the
Transfer Entities other than as disregarded entities for U.S.
federal income tax purposes as of and following the
Closing.
(i) The assumption by NewCo
LLC for U.S. federal income tax purposes of the Sprint Pre-Closing
Financing will constitute an assumption of “qualified
liabilities” as described in Treasury Regulation
Section 1.707-5(a)(6)(i)(D).
SECTION 7.8 Sprint
Contracts .
(a) Section 7.8 of the
Sprint Disclosure Schedule sets forth a true, correct and complete
list of the Specified Sprint Contracts, and true, correct and
complete copies of all Specified Sprint Contracts and all
amendments and waivers thereunder have been made available to
Clearwire and the Investors. To the extent Specified Sprint
Contracts are not evidenced by documents, written summaries have
been made available to Clearwire and the Investors. Subject to the
Bankruptcy Exception, all Specified Sprint Contracts are in full
force and effect and are legal, valid, binding and enforceable in
accordance with their respective terms with respect to Sprint or
its Subsidiaries and, to the Knowledge of Sprint, each other party
to the Specified Sprint Contracts, in each case except as would not
be reasonably likely to result in a Sprint Material Adverse Effect.
There are no existing defaults or breaches of Sprint or its
Subsidiaries under any Specified Sprint Contract (or events or
conditions that, with notice or lapse of time or both would
constitute a default or breach) and, to the Knowledge of Sprint,
there are no
50
defaults or breaches (or
events or conditions that, with notice or lapse of time or both,
would constitute a default or breaches) with respect to any third
party to any Specified Sprint Contract, in each case except as
would not be reasonably likely to result, individually or in the
aggregate, in a Sprint Material Adverse Effect.
(b) Except as contemplated by
this Agreement, Sprint and its Subsidiaries have not entered into
any wholesale/resale, mobile virtual network operator, co-branding,
or service bundling agreement with any third party with respect to
the Sprint WiMAX Business.
SECTION 7.9 Compliance
with Law . The Sprint WiMAX Business, Sprint Sub LLC and each
Transfer Entity has been operated at all times in compliance with
all Laws applicable to Sprint Sub LLC, each Transfer Entity and the
Sprint WiMAX Business or by which any property, business or asset
of Sprint Sub LLC, each Transfer Entity and the Sprint WiMAX
Business is bound or affected and has not been threatened to be
charged with or given notice of any violation of any such Laws,
other than failures to comply with or violations of such Laws that
individually or in the aggregate would not reasonably be expected
to result, individually or in the aggregate, in a Sprint Material
Adverse Effect.
SECTION 7.10 Required
Filings and Consents . The execution and delivery of this
Agreement by Sprint and the consummation by Sprint and its
Subsidiaries of the Transactions contemplated by this Agreement do
not, and the performance of this Agreement by Sprint will not,
require any consent, approval, authorization or permit of, or
filing with or notification to, any Governmental Authority, except
for the Governmental Consents or where the failure to obtain those
consents, approvals, authorizations or permits, or to make those
filings or notifications, would not, individually or in the
aggregate, prevent or materially delay the performance by Sprint of
any of its obligations under this Agreement or the performance by
Sprint and its Subsidiaries of the Transactions contemplated by
this Agreement.
SECTION 7.11 Sprint
Non-FCC Licenses . The Transfer Entities own or possess, or at
Closing will own or possess, all of the Governmental Licenses
(other than the Sprint Licenses) that are necessary to enable it to
carry on the business that relates to the Sprint Assets except
where the failure to so possess would not reasonably be expected to
result in a Sprint Material Adverse Effect. All Governmental
Licenses owned or possessed by the Transfer Entities are valid,
binding, and in full force and effect, except as would not
reasonably be expected to result, individually or in the aggregate,
in a Sprint Material Adverse Effect.
SECTION 7.12 Absence of
Certain Changes or Events . Except as contemplated by this
Agreement since December 31, 2007, Sprint and its Subsidiaries
have conducted the Sprint WiMAX Business in the ordinary course of
business and there has not been: (a
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