The Delaware Court of Chancery on Friday rejected a shareholder challenge to Sprint Corp.'s $3.6 billion takeover of Clearwire Corp., ruling that a bidding war over the telecommunications operator had pushed the price to more than twice its fair value.

The ruling came as a loss for Aurelius Capital Management, a hedge fund that held shares of Clearwire common stock when the deal closed in 2013. Aurelius filed last year, seeking appraisal of its shares and accusing Sprint of using its influence to force Clearwire investors to approve the deal at an undervalued price.

Sprint, Aurelius alleged in court documents, was aided in those efforts by the Japanese telecommunications company Softbank Corp., in its effort to break into the U.S. cellphone market.