In March 2023, T-Mobile announced it would acquire Mint Mobile’s parent company, Ka’ena Corporation, for up to $1.35 billion, according to Fortune . Reynolds held an estimated 25% stake in Mint. Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds is known for his movies and his jokes, but he also had a major business win.
When the deal was announced, Reynolds joked that T-Mobile had beaten out a last-minute bid from his mother, Tammy Reynolds. The headline figure was a cap, not a guaranteed payout. Other Ka’ena brands, including Ultra Mobile and Plum, were also included in the sale. Mint founders David Glickman and Rizwan Kassim were set to run those brands as a separate business unit within T-Mobile. When the sale closed, Reynolds joked about Gary from Finance, whom he called a real stickler. Gizmodo reports the U.S. Federal Communications Commission approved the deal just before it closed.
T-Mobile announced the deal on March 15, 2023. T-Mobile said $1.35 billion was the maximum price, with the final amount depending on Ka’ena’s performance before and after closing. About 39% would be paid in cash and 61% in shares. That was after T-Mobile promised current Mint customers they would have 60 days to switch providers after the acquisition. The company also said it would maintain Mint’s $15-per-month offer for new and existing customers.
T-Mobile said it would leverage its supplier relationships and scale to help the brands offer competitive pricing and a wider selection of devices. He said T-Mobile’s 5G network was a better fit for Mint. T-Mobile said it wanted to learn from Mint’s marketing, and Fortune quoted CEO Mike Sievert as calling Mint an incredibly successful direct-to-consumer business . T-Mobile was the best partner to help supercharge Mint, Gizmodo says. T-Mobile also announced features like a “Scam Likely” warning for known scam callers, and expanded roaming in Mexico and Canada. Some critics had worried that there would be less competition, but defenders said Mint was already heavily dependent on T-Mobile’s network.
