Charter Communications rebuffs Sprint Corp

Charter Communications Inc says it is not interested in a merger with Masayoshi Son's Sprint Corp, after the publication of a report that the Japanese billionaire sought such a deal, according to a person familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported.

Son, chairman of Sprint Corp, proposed a merger of his struggling wireless company with Charter, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.

The proposal envisaged the creation of a new publicly-traded company combining Sprint and Charter and under the control of Son's SoftBank, the newspaper reported.

Charter and Comcast Corp had been in exclusive talks with Sprint over possible deals since May. These included one that would allow the cable companies to resell wireless service under their own brands. The exclusivity ended this week and with the closing of that window the way was clear for Sprint to resume discussions with T-Mobile US Inc or other partners, people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg News earlier this week.

A Sprint - Charter combination would have seen the fourth-largest US wireless carrier align with the No 2 US cable company. Overland Park, Kansas has a market value of almost $33 billion and even more in long-term debt. Revenue came in at $33.3 billion in the past 12 months. Son's SoftBank held an 83 per cent stake in the carrier.