T-Mobile US has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Ka’ena Corporation and its subsidiaries Mint Mobile, Ultra Mobile and Plum. Following the deal’s close, Mint’s founders David Glickman and Rizwan Kassim will remain at T-Mobile to manage the brands, which will generally operate as a separate business unit. Further, T-Mobile notes that minority shareholder Ryan Reynolds will continue in his creative role on behalf of Mint.
T-Mobile will pay up to a maximum of USD1.35 billion in a combination of 39% cash and 61% stock to acquire Ka’ena, although the actual price paid will be based upon Ka’ena’s performance during certain periods before and after the closing. The price is also subject to working capital adjustments and other contractual reserves. The transaction is subject to the satisfaction of closing conditions and is expected to close later this year.
TeleGeography notes that Mint Mobile was founded in 2015 as Mint SIM by David Glickman, the founder of international calling specialist Ultra Mobile, and Rizwan Kassim. Initially a subsidiary of Ultra Mobile, the MVNO utilises the T-Mobile US network for connectivity. The operator was rebranded as Mint Mobile on 1 May 2018. Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds went on to acquire an unknown stake in Mint Mobile in November 2019; the actor’s shareholding has been estimated at 20%-25%. Plum, meanwhile, is a mobile virtual network enabler (MVNE); its name is derived from the words ‘Platform Leveraging Ultra Mobile’.