T-Mobile buys Ryan Reynolds’ Mint Mobile for up to $1.35 billion
T-Mobile buys Mint Mobile, the budget-friendly mobile carrier part-owned by Ryan Reynolds. In a post published Wednesday, T-Mobile announced that the deal is valued at up to $1.35 billion and comes as T-Mobile looks to expand its prepaid phone offerings.
The acquisition should close later this year and includes a 39 percent cash purchase and 61 percent equity purchase of Mint’s parent company, Ka’ena Corporation. However, the price may change as it depends on Mint’s performance.
Once the deal closes, Mint founders David Glickman and Rizwan Kassim will join T-Mobile to continue managing the brand, which T-Mobile says will “generally operate as a separate business unit.” Meanwhile, Reynolds will also continue to be a part of Mint’s branding, as T-Mobile says he will “continue his creative role on behalf of Mint.”
“I never dreamed I would own a wireless business and I certainly never dreamed I would sell it to T-Mobile,” Reynolds said in a tweet. “Life is strange and I am incredibly proud and grateful.”
As T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert pointed out in a YouTube video posted Wednesday, T-Mobile is keeping the price of Mint’s cheapest phone plan at $15 per month. The deal also includes Ka’ena’s other businesses, including Ultra Mobile, a prepaid provider that offers international calling, and Plum, a wholesale wireless solutions provider.
The acquisition will allow T-Mobile to regain the customers it lost when it sold Boost Mobile
Reynolds first bought an ownership stake in Mint in 2019 and has been the brand ambassador ever since. Mint, which offers cheap prepaid plans, is a mobile network virtual operator (MVNO) that already offers services over T-Mobile’s network. By buying Mint, T-Mobile may be trying to regain the customers it lost when it sold Boost Mobile to Dish as part of its merger with Sprint.
“In the long run, we will also benefit from applying the marketing formula that Mint has become famous for to more parts of T-Mobile,” Sievert says. “We think customers are really going to win with a more competitive and more comprehensive Mint and Ultra.”