SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son isn’t letting a deal with Charter slip through his hands that easily.
The head of Sprint’s parent company is reportedly considering making Charter Communications a direct offer from the Japanese giant after an earlier offer from its U.S. wireless carrier arm was turned down.
Bloomberg reports Son is working on a deal that would see SoftBank acquire Charter outright. The cable company is worth around $101 billion. Sprint has a value of around $30 billion, while parent company SoftBank is valued at around $89 billion.
Bloomberg’s Sunday story comes on the heels of earlier reports detailing merger talks between Sprint and Charter.
Earlier this summer Sprint put its deal talks with fellow U.S. wireless carrier T-Mobile on hold to spend two months engaged in “exclusive” discussions with Charter and Comcast. Those chats were initially centered on coming to an agreement for the cable companies to offer wireless services over Sprint’s network. The Wall Street Journal on Friday, however, indicates Sprint was pursuing a straight merger with Charter rather than just an MVNO arrangement. Follow-up stories note Charter rebuffed the offer in favor of keeping its current resale agreement with Verizon.
A spokeswoman tells Bloomberg “Charter has no interest in acquiring Sprint.” Charter adds it is planning to launch its wireless service on Verizon’s network next year.
