Ryan Reynolds-Backed Mint Is Bought by T-Mobile for $1.35 Billion

T-Mobile US is buying Mint Mobile, the budget wireless provider part owned by actor Ryan Reynolds, for as much as $1.35 billion in an effort to bolster its prepaid phone business and reach more lower-income customers. T-Mobile is acquiring Mint’s closely held parent company, Ka’ena Corp., with a combination of 39% cash and 61% stock. The ultimate purchase price will be based on Mint reaching certain performance goals, both before and after the transaction closes. Reynolds, who owns an undisclosed but “significant” stake in Mint, will continue to make commercial appearances on the company’s behalf the actor has incentives to “continue for years.” Co-founder David Glickman and his partner Rizwan Kassim will join T-Mobile and manage the business. Mint offers some of the country’s lowest priced mobile plans, starting at $15 a month for 4 gigabytes of wireless data. The companies didn’t disclose Mint’s subscriber count. Its annual subscriber growth over the past four years has been 50%, and revenue growth has been 70% or more a year. The business has no stores, and sells phones and mobile plans entirely online. The service is provided by T-Mobile already as part of a wholesale network-sharing agreement.