<p>October 11, 2012, 7:20 AM Japan's Softbank, the country's third-largest carrier, is in negotiations to acquire U.S. mobile operator Sprint in a deal worth over US$30 billion, the Japanese business newspaper Nikkei reported Thursday.</p><p>The deal, in which Softbank would aim to buy all of the outstanding shares in Sprint, the third-largest carrier in the U.S., could be the largest purchase of a foreign company by a Japanese firm, the Nikkei said. Kyodo News Agency also reported Softbank was considering the deal, with neither news organization saying where the information came from.</p><p>A Softbank spokesman reached late Thursday night in Tokyo said he was looking into the report and had no immediate comment.</p><p>Softbank is known to aggressively expand into new markets, and has large investments in Japan and Asia. The company said earlier this month it will purchase domestic rival eAccess in a US$2 billion deal to help expand its mobile network.</p><p><a href="http://www.itworld.com/unified-communications/302429/report-japans-softbank-negotiating-buy-us-operator-sprint">Keep reading...</a></p>