T-Mobile Acquiring Mint Mobile Parent Company Ka’ena Corp.

T-Mobile plans to acquire the parent company of Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile.

The purchase of Ka’ena Corporation and its subsidiaries and brands, which include wholesaler Plum along with Mint and Ultra, will allow T-Mobile to reach new customers, T-Mobile said in a Wednesday (March 15) press release.

The deal, worth up to $1.35 billion, is subject to closing conditions and is expected to close later this year, according to the press release.

The Mint and Ultra brands already use the 5G network of T-Mobile, which dubs itself “the Un-carrier,” and that will continue after the acquisition, the release said.

“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 — and Ultra Mobile — into the future,” T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert said in the release.

Bloomberg reported in January that T-Mobile was in talks to acquire Mint Mobile, which was 25% owned and often promoted by actor Ryan Reynolds.

Reynolds’ creative role on behalf of the brand will continue after the acquisition, according to the press release.

Mint Mobile offers direct-to-consumer (D2C) prepaid wireless service in the United States, while Ultra Mobile provides wireless service that features international calling options to U.S. communities, the release said.

T-Mobile will leverage its marketing expertise and other assets while also helping them optimize its pricing and its device inventory by adding its supplier relationships and distribution scale, per the release.

“Our brands have thrived on the T-Mobile network, and we are thrilled that this agreement will take them even further, bringing the many benefits of 5G to even more Americans,” David Glickman, founder and CEO of Mint, Ultra and Plum, said in the release. “The transaction validates our meteoric success and will unite two proven industry innovators committed to doing things differently in the wireless industry.”

This news comes two days after it was announced that T-Mobile and SpaceX would start testing satellite-to-cell service this year.

With satellite-to-cell service, users will be able to send text messages and images from areas that are currently in traditional networks’ dead zones, SpaceX Chief Engineer Elon Musk said in August 2022, according to a Seeking Alpha report.