Softbank, Japan’s third-largest mobile network operator, is in advanced talks to purchase Sprint. Citing sources familiar with the companies’ plans, the Wall Street Journal reports that Sotftbank may pay as much as $12.8 billion for the U.S.’s third-largest carrier. Sprint executives have remarked in the past that they expect to see the industry consolidate further and even approve of it, as long as Verizon Wireless and AT&T – the country’s two largest carriers – aren’t involved.
The WSJ’s sources did not say if Softbank will purchase all of Sprint or some of it. Neither Sprint nor Softbank confirmed the Journal’s report. Earlier this month Deutsche Telekom proposed to merge its T-Mobile USA unit with MetroPCS.
