Ryan Reynolds’s Mint Mobile Will Be Acquired by T-Mobile for $1.3 Billion

Louisa Ballhaus
·3 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

It’s a good day to be Ryan Reynolds. Back in November 2019, the Deadpool actor acquired an ownership stake in budget-friendly wireless carrier Mint Mobile—and today, it was confirmed that T-Mobile will be acquiring the company in a deal worth up to $1.35 billion.

The communications giant announced it had reached a deal to acquire Ka’ena Corp. and its subsidiaries, which include Mint Mobile, on March 15. The deal will be paid out in a combination of 39 percent cash and 61 percent stock at a maximum value of $1.35 billion, with the exact value to be determined by Ka’ena’s performance over the next year. T-Mobile’s chief executive expressing specific interest in the direct-to-consumer marketing expertise at Mint, at which Reynolds is both an owner and a spokesperson.

More from Robb Report

“Mint has built an incredibly successful digital direct-to-consumer business that continues to deliver for customers on the Un-carrier’s leading 5G network and now we are excited to use our scale and owners’ economics to help supercharge it,” T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert said in a statement. “Over the long-term, we’ll also benefit from applying the marketing formula Mint has become famous for across more parts of T-Mobile.”

Reynolds will continue in a creative role at Mint under new ownership, and Mint founders David Glickman and Rizwan Kassim will stay on as brand managers as well. The actor released an ad alongside CEO Sievert announcing the acquisition and hyping up how valuable the T-Mobile network has been to Mint’s operations while also including his classic deadpan humor. In the ad, Sievert confirmed they will retain Mint’s $15 per month pricing, while Reynolds confirmed that they will keep the “incredibly improvised and borderline reckless messaging strategy” for which they’re known—a.k.a, that marketing expertise T-Mobile was so excited about.

“Mint Mobile is the best deal in wireless, and today’s news only enhances our ability to deliver for our customers,” Reynolds added in a statement about the acquisition. “We are so happy T-Mobile beat out an aggressive last-minute bid from my mom, Tammy Reynolds, as we believe the excellence of their 5G network will provide a better strategic fit than my mom’s slightly-above-average mahjong skills.”

The ad announcing this acquisition is an excellent example of how T-Mobile hopes to capitalize on the brand visibility and advertising strategy brought to the table by Reynolds’s presence and creative influence. It’s a big win for Reynolds in proving his value in the business world: as the owner of multiple companies including Aviation Gin, Welsh soccer club Wrexham AFC, and film production company Maximum Effort, the star has built an impressively diverse portfolio of investments in recent years, and this acquisition is proof that they’re paying off.

Sign up for Robb Report's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.