Canadian networking firm DragonWave is taking an unusual step. The company, which recently completed its initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange and London AIM market, wants to grant Sprint United Management Company, a Sprint Nextel subsidiary, a warrant to purchase up to 126,250 common shares. The shares will be subject to vesting conditions based on the volume of future business DragonWave receives from Sprint prior to December 31, 2008.
The company says that Sprint is currently evaluating DragonWave's equipment for its 4G network. DragonWave offers a backhaul solution that uses common carrier spectrum (between 1 GHz and 38 GHz band). The company believes this type of backhaul solution is appealing to operators because it uses licensed spectrum but is affordable. In March, DragonWave introduced a new Horizon Compact Gigabit Ethernet microwave transmission system that provides 800 Mbps full-duplex capacity.
Company spokeswoman Cathy Palmen says that this warrant to purchase DragonWave shares indicates that Sprint is not just interested in using DragonWave's equipment but is also interested in the company from an investment standpoint.
For more on DragonWave's offer to Sprint:
- read this article from the Ottawa Business Journal