Report claims Japanese carrier could acquire Sprint

Update: Reports now indicate that Softbank will also make a bid for MetroPCS. (Via Computer World.) The idea is to outbid T-Mobile, of course. One investor has sued MetroPCS over the potential T-Mobile deal, claiming that it doesn’t benefit shareholders enough. This has suddenly become quite the situation. Original. How’s this for a twist: Softbank, a Japanese wireless carrier, is in talks to acquire Sprint. The Wall Street Journal calls these “advanced talks,” though such terms are ambiguous with regards to predicting outcomes. The deal would, unsurprisingly, be a hefty one, nearly $13 billion. That would get them about 70 percent of the company; the rest would remain publicly traded. The biggest benefit for Sprint in this instance is a “multibillion-dollar cash injection,” which could help Sprint speed up its LTE rollout. Details are scant right now, but we’ll surely hear more about this soon enough. Via The Wall Street Journal via Phone Scoop.]]>