ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Satellite TV operator Dish Network Corp. said Tuesday it would not submit a revised bid for Sprint, leaving the path open for the wireless carrier to accept what it already considers a superior offer from Japan's Softbank.

Dish said that Sprint Nextel Corp.'s decision to cut Dish's due diligence process short, among other things, made it "impracticable" to submit a revised bid. It said it will continue to focus on its bid for Clearwire, a wireless network operator in which Sprint has a majority stake.

"We will consider our options with respect to Sprint, and focus our efforts and resources on completing the Clearwire tender offer," Dish said.

Sprint had given Dish until Tuesday to make its best and final offer. Sprint's demand came after Softbank last week boosted its bid for the carrier by $1.5 billion to $21.6 billion, which Sprint considers the best offer. While that's still short of Dish's $25.5 billion bid, Dish's proposal would add more to Sprint's debt load and is seen as more risky.

Sprint shares fell 11 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $7.21 in after-hours trading Tuesday. Dish shares were up 5 cents at $39.14 after-hours, while Clearwire shares rose 8 cents to $4.64.

Meanwhile, Sprint bolstered its defenses against Dish's grab for a stake in Clearwire.

Late Monday, Sprint filed a suit in the Delaware Court of Chancery asking the court to block Dish's $4.40-per-share offer for Clearwire, saying it cannot complete its offer without the approval of holders of at least 75 percent of Clearwire's shares.

Sprint, headquartered in Overland Park, Kan., also contends that the deal violates shareholder rights under Clearwire's charter and an equity holders' agreement.

Sprint had bid $3.40 per share for the shares in Clearwire which it doesn't already own.

Dish, based in Englewood, Colo., called the litigation a "transparent attempt" by Sprint to divert attention away from its failure to deal fairly with Clearwire shareholders. The satellite broadcaster said in a statement it was confident its offer will be upheld.

Clearwire Corp. said it doesn't comment on pending litigation. Clearwire is based in Bellevue, Wash.

Softbank, one of Japan's largest wireless phone operators, is seeking to expand its footprint overseas with the Sprint acquisition and says it can reap benefits like saving money on large-scale orders of handsets and equipment.

Dish, whose traditional business is providing pay TV services, is meanwhile trying to amass enough rights to the airwaves to diversify into the mobile phone and other businesses.

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By Sruthi Ramakrishnan

(Reuters) - Adobe Systems Inc, known for its Photoshop and Acrobat software, reported a higher-than-expected adjusted second-quarter profit and said demand rose for Creative Cloud, the subscription-based version of its flagship software package.

The company said it expects the number of paid subscribers for Creative Cloud in the current quarter to top the 221,000 subscribers who signed up in the second quarter, increasing the total to 700,000. The company added 153,000 subscribers in the first quarter.

Adobe is the latest traditional software company to make a big bet on the cloud-based subscription model pioneered by companies such as Salesforce.com Inc, NetSuite Inc and Google Inc.

Subscription models bring in less money upfront as payment is spread over the entire period of use unlike traditional packaged software, but typically ensure more predictable recurring revenue.

Shares of Adobe rose 4.4 percent in after-market trading. They closed at $43.36 on the Nasdaq on Tuesday.

Promotions to drive adoption of Creative Cloud may affect average revenue per user (ARPU) in the short term, but will add to annualized recurring revenue (ARR) in the long term, Chief Financial Officer Mark Garrett said on a conference call with analysts.

"If I can get to a better ARR number with more subscriber numbers at a slightly lower ARPU, I would gladly make that tradeoff because it gets more people on the platform, it gives us more critical mass," he said to Reuters.

Adobe has been shifting to web-based subscription service Creative Cloud from a licensing model since last year.

Customers are responding to the attraction of the Creative Cloud offering and the convenience of subscriptions which are reflected in the results and stock movement, B. Riley & Co analyst Daniel Cummins said.

Edward Jones technology analyst Josh Olson termed the guidance "pretty impressive".

"They are essentially setting some pretty high standards in terms of what they need to do for Q3 here, to surpass what was an already impressive Q2 in terms of subscription adds," he said.

Adobe forecast current-quarter adjusted earnings of 29 cents to 35 cents per share on revenue of $975 million to $1.03 billion.

Analysts on average are expecting earnings of 35 cents per share on revenue of $1.01 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Adobe said in May that upgrades for Creative Cloud, which includes Photoshop, Illustrator and Flash, would be available only through online subscriptions. The company also said it would not develop upgrades for Creative Suite, the license-based version of Creative Cloud.

Adobe said on Tuesday that net income for the second quarter fell to $76.5 million, or 15 cents per share, from $223.9 million, or 45 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, earnings were 36 cents per share.

Revenue fell 10 percent to $1.01 billion.

Analysts on average had expected earnings of 33 cents per share on revenue of $1.01 billion.

The company maintained its full-year outlook for adjusted earnings of about $1.45 per share on revenue of about $4.1 billion.

(Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bangalore; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Carol Bishopric)

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(Reuters) - Eastman Kodak Co on Tuesday said it will seek court approval for a $406 million rights offering that could give creditors a big equity stake in the company after it emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Kodak said creditors agreed to backstop an offering that would let the Rochester, New York-based company issue 34 million common shares at $11.94 each, equal to about 85 percent of the equity of a reorganized company.

"This agreement, which serves as a critical component of the capital structure for the emerging Kodak, positions us to comprehensively settle our obligations with our various key creditor constituencies," Kodak Chief Executive Antonio Perez said in a statement.

Kodak has said it hopes to emerge from Chapter 11 in the third quarter of this year.

It said proceeds from the rights offering would go to repay various creditors, including more junior second-lien creditors who would no longer receive equity in the reorganized company.

Kodak said its official committee of unsecured creditors has advised that it supports the backstop and rights offering.

Creditors proposing the backstop are GSO Capital Partners, BlueMountain Capital, George Karfunkel, United Equities Group and Contrarian Capital, Kodak said.

Kodak sought protection from creditors in January 2012 amid high pension costs, and after falling many years behind rivals in embracing digital technology in its photography business.

The company has since sold a variety of assets and plans to emerge from Chapter 11 as a commercial imaging business.

The case is In re: Eastman Kodak Co, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, No. 12-10202.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Stephen Coates)

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