US wireless carrier T-Mobile has refused talks with French telecom operator Iliad, declining to even allow access to financial information for a bid, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
The report came days after a surprise $15 billion bid for a controlling stake in T-Mobile by Iliad, which operates the discount telecom and Internet service Free in France.
Iliad declined to comment on the report.
If accurate, the refusal could clear the way for T-Mobile to make plans to merge with Sprint, a deal combining the third- and fourth-largest US carriers which has been widely anticipated without any public announcement.
Sprint, which is controlled by Japan's SoftBank, is believed to be working on a deal that values T-Mobile at $32 billion.
The Journal, citing people familiar with the Iliad offer, said T-Mobile considers the offer too low and that there was no significant dialogue between the companies.
Still, a Sprint tie-up with T-Mobile could face significant regulatory hurdles, a point made by Iliad, which had argued it would face less scrutiny because it has no US operations.
Iliad's founder Xavier Niel told the Journal last week the company's offer for US-based T-Mobile is "real" and that he is open to working with partners on a deal.
T-Mobile, majority owned by Germany's Deutsche Telekom, has boosted its subscriber based to over 50 million in the past quarter.