According to the Wall Street Journal, Sprint, which is owned by Softbank, has changed its mind about buying the fourth largest wireless carrier in the United States for as much as $40 billion.

This move is rather surprising given that Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son has put considerable time and effort into the planned acquisition. However, the alleged reason behind the decision to withdraw apparently makes sense, as Sprint would have to face too much challenge to overcome necessary regulatory hurdles in solidifying the deal.

According to Engadget, the conclusion most probably also had something to do with government officials with whom the company had a long series of meetings. According to reports, the officials have expressed concerns that competition in the wireless industry in the U.S. would be affected by the deal. While no comment has been given by Sprint, the wireless carrier is expected to make an announcement by tomorrow.

Furthermore, competing bids for T-Mobile also played a role when the French company Iliad and its offer of $15 billion was not seriously considered by Deutsche Telekom, making it appear that T-Mobile will be on its own for a while. Still, considering its current growth, it could overtake Sprint as the United States' third-largest carrier.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg has reported that CEO Dan Hesse will be replaced very soon as Sprint could give the post to chief of the wireless distributor Brightstar, Marcelo Claure. On the other hand, even if the deal had pushed through, T-Mobile CEO John Legere would have replaced Hesse anyway.

The news saying that Sprint had planned on its bid to buy T-Mobile was announced as early as three months ago when Sprint already met with six leading banks in its preparation for the possible takeover.