Softbank to acquire T-Mobile

Japanese telecom giant Softbank is entering the final stage of talks with Germany's Deutsche Telekom to buy its US subsidiary T-Mobile, Kyodo News Agency reported on Wednesday, citing anonymous sources. Softbank, one of Japan's largest mobile phone carriers, is aiming to acquire a majority stake in the US No. 4 carrier for two trillion yen (19 billion US dollars), according to Kyodo. The deal will be carried out through US mobile operator Sprint Nextel Corp., which was bought by Softbank in July. A tie-up between Sprint and T-Mobile will build up a subscriber base of nearly 100 million, lagging slightly behind the top two of Verizon Wireless and AT&T in the US market. The deal, if reached, still awaits approval of US. anti-trust regulators.