Citing people familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal claims a deal between the two firms could be announced within the coming weeks.
Level 3, which operates one of the world’s largest internet backbones, is valued at around $16.8 billion, while CenturyLink is worth around $15.2 billion. The US firm provides communications and data services to residential, business, governmental and wholesale customers in 37 states.
Both companies have a history of making acquisitions. In 2011, Level 3 bought Global Crossing for around $2 billion, while in it 2014, it snapped up TW Telecom for roughly $6 billion.
CenturyLink made two acquisitions in 2011, buying Qwest Communications for $11 billion and Savvis for $2 billion. In 2009, it bought Embarq Corp for around $6 billion.
Little information around the deal has been reported, but according to Reuters, it could see Level 3 combine its enterprise service offering with CenturyLink’s network. Both firms declined to comment.
