Clearwire agrees to $2.2 billion sweetened bid from Sprint

Reuters) - Clearwire Corp agreed to sell the rest of the company to Sprint Nextel Corp for a slightly sweeter $2.2 billion offer, days after minority shareholders criticized the previous bid as too low.

The deal is one of the few options Clearwire has to survive in the long term, as it needs to raise more financing to upgrade its network and to keep the business afloat.

Sprint, the number three U.S. wireless carrier and already the majority owner of Clearwire, raised its offer by 7 cents per share to $2.97 per share.

Clearwire's shares slid 8.3 percent in premarket trade on Monday to $3.09. They had jumped nearly a quarter to close at $3.37 on Friday, on hopes of a higher offer.