KDDI Corp. President Takashi Tanaka revealed Wednesday that his firm in the past year had discussed acquiring Sprint Nextel Corp. but in the end opted not to buy the U.S. carrier.
"I think pursuing the size is one value, but that's Softbank's style, and we are different," Tanaka said of Softbank Corp.'s announcement Monday that it plans to acquire Sprint to become the world's third-largest carrier in terms of sales.
Tanaka said Sprint was on a list of firms considered for possible mergers and acquisitions suggested by at least one brokerage a year ago.