Japanese mobile carrier looks to acquire Sprint Nextel for $12.8 billion

Japanese mobile carrier Softbank Corp. is in advanced talks to buy U.S. operator Sprint Nextel Corp. in a deal expected to exceed ¥1 trillion ($12.81 billion) in value, a person familiar with the matter said Thursday.

If Softbank acquires Sprint, it would be the second major transaction in the mobile space lately. Just last week, Deutsche Telekom announced plans to acquire regional carrier MetroPCS and merge it with T-Mobile.

Softbank has nearly 30.5 million subscribers across Japan, making it one of the largest carriers in that country. According to the company's corporate data page, Softbank currently has over 177 billion yen (about $2.3 billion) in capital, so it's possible the company might use its stock to help fund the massive Sprint deal.

Buying Sprint would give SoftBank an entryway into the American market, one of the largest in the world. Earlier this month, it agreed to buy a smaller competitor, eAccess, to become the second-biggest service provider in Japan.

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