Earlier today we reported on the rumors that Sprint might be holding off on countering T-Mobile’s offer for MetroPCS, and now it seems that according to a report from Reuters, Sprint may very well be bought out themselves, or at least the majority stake. According to one of Reuters’ source, Japan’s third-largest mobile carrier, Softbank, is looking to acquire the majority stake in Sprint in a deal that is purportedly worth more than 1 trillion yen, which is about $12.8 billion. Neither company has come forward to officially acknowledge the report, but according to the Japanese media, one of the reasons why Softbank might be interested in purchasing a majority stake in Sprint is so that it would make it cheaper for Softbank to acquire smartphones and other mobile devices in the future. It is unclear at this point in time as to what this could mean for Sprint customers should the deal go through, but we’ll keep our eyes peeled for more information nonetheless.