Clearwire Shares Climb After Crest Financial Buys Stake

Clearwire Corp. (CLWR), the unprofitable company building a high-speed wireless network across the U.S., rose after Crest Financial bought a 7.9 percent stake and said the shares are undervalued.

Crest Financial may seek to add directors to the board, though it has no agreement with Clearwire yet, the Houston-based investment firm said in a filing on June 1.

Clearwire advanced 3 percent to close at $1.19 in New York. The stock has dropped 39 percent this year.

The rally follows a 40 percent decline in the stock price this year, dragged down by concerns that the company doesn’t have enough money to build out its network. It had $1.4 billion in cash and short-term investments as of March 31, an amount that isn’t sufficient to fund cash-flow shortfalls and interest expense through 2013, according to Dave Novosel, a senior bond analyst at Gimme Credit LLC in Chicago.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (S), the third-largest U.S. wireless carrier, is an investor in Clearwire and relies on the company’s network. Sprint holds a 50 percent financial interest and a 47.1 percent voting interest in Clearwire.

Susan Johnston, a spokeswoman for Bellevue, Washington- based Clearwire, declined to comment.

To contact the reporter on this story: Scott Moritz in New York at smoritz6@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net