T-Mobile Purchases Mint, Backed by Ryan Reynolds, for $1.35 Billion

On Wednesday, T-Mobile announced an agreement to acquire Ka'ena Corporation, the parent company of prepaid wireless brands Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile, as well as wireless wholesaler Plum. The deal, potentially worth up to $1.35 billion in a mix of cash and stock, is intended to integrate these existing brands into the network of the nation's second-largest wireless carrier. The exact purchase price will be determined based on Ka'ena's performance both ahead of and after the completion of the transaction.

Ryan Reynolds, who is part owner of Mint and its advertising figurehead, will continue to be involved with the wireless carrier in a "creative role", according to a T-Mobile press release. Reynolds currently owns around a quarter of Mint and co-founder David Glickman told CNET that he will remain with the company for multiple years.

The news was made public in a video featuring both T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert and Reynolds, that was shared on the internet Wednesday.

T-Mobile anticipates that the acquisition will be concluded later this year. Once the purchase is finalized, the carrier will leverage its provider contacts and circulation scope to support the Mint and Ultra labels to expand and deliver attractive costs and varied device variety to customers. The wireless carrier states that Mint and Ultra will supplement T-Mobile's other pre-paid options, like Connect by T-Mobile, Metro by T-Mobile, and their own T-Mobile branded pre-paid service.

Katz, the president of marketing, innovation and experience at T-Mobile, informed CNET that the inclusion of Mint and Ultra in its brand portfolio "permits us to provide more products, more variety and different options that will suit all customers no matter their preference.”

Neither T-Mobile nor Ka'ena Corporation have stated the amount of customers that will be transferring to T-Mobile after the transaction is finalized. Katz commented that the amounts of former Mint and Ultra users will be declared at the end of the year.

As part of the acquisition, Mint and Ultra's founders -- Glickman and Rizwan Kassim -- will remain to direct the brands. Glickman showed to CNET that Mint's rate plans will remain the same and the team is endeavoring to make their offerings better by adding more data or international calling without changing the prices. He anticipated that there will soon be a "very big announcement" that will benefit all of the company's customers within the next two months. This announcement will be around how they can continue to offer more value to their customers at the same cost.