T-Mobile announced Wednesday it acquired Mint Mobile, a budget wireless provider backed by actor Ryan Reynolds, in a deal worth up to US$1.35 billion (A$1.96 billion).
Key Facts
T-Mobile, the second-largest wireless provider in the country, is acquiring Ka’ena Corporation and its subsidiaries Mint Mobile, Ultra mobile and Plum, a wholesaler.
T-Mobile will pay $1.35 billion, through 39% cash and 61% stock, to acquire the brand, according to the statement.
Reynolds, an owner and spokesman for Mint Mobile who starred in the provider’s commercials “will continue on in his creative role,” the announcement read.
Big Number
US$337.5 million. That’s roughly how much Reynolds earned from the sale. The Deadpool star owns roughly 25% of Mint Mobile, Bloomberg previously reported, citing an unnamed source.
Key Background
Mint Mobile is just one of the many companies under Reynolds’ portfolio. In 2020, Diageo acquired his alcohol company Aviation Gin—in which he had an “unspecified minority stake,”—for $335 million upfront, and an additional $275 million, depending on the company’s performance through the next 10 years.
Diageo said Reynolds and co-owner Davos Brands would keep “an ongoing ownership interest” in the company. He also runs the creative agency Maximum Effort. In 2021, Reynolds and Always Sunny in Philadelphia creator Rob McElhenney purchased a football club, Wrexham AFC, for a reported US$2.5 million.
That year, his wife Blake Lively launched her drink line Betty Buzz in partnership with Maximum Effort.
What To Watch For
Despite his business success, Reynolds still acts and will star in Deadpool 3 alongside Hugh Jackman, who will reprise his role as Wolverine.
