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T-Mobile US Inc. 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.

The second-largest US wireless provider is acquiring Mint’s closely held parent company, Ka’ena Corp., with a combination of 39% cash and 61% stock, according to a statement Wednesday. The ultimate purchase price will be based on Mint reaching certain performance goals, both before and after the transaction closes. The sale talks were first reported by Bloomberg News in January.

Reynolds, who owns an undisclosed but “significant” stake in Mint, will continue to make commercial appearances on the company’s behalf, co-founder David Glickman said in an interview, adding the actor has incentives to “continue for years.” Glickman and his partner Rizwan Kassim will join T-Mobile and manage the business, which includes Ultra Mobile, an international phone service.

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, Glickman said.

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.

“Mint’s formula works, the brand is growing fast and we can pour more fuel onto that by leveraging buying power for phones and marketing,” said Mike Katz, president of marketing for T-Mobile. The Bellevue, Washington-based carrier also operates its own prepaid brand called Metro.

The pay-as-you-go market is seen as a source of overall subscriber growth as credit-challenged customers are eventually pulled into regular monthly billings. Mint competes with other prepaid phone brands, including Cricket from AT&T Inc., Total from Verizon Communications Inc. and Boost Mobile from Dish Network Corp.

T-Mobile expects the deal to close later this year and doesn’t anticipate any changes to its 2023 financial outlook. Mint will be “slightly accretive’ to adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. how much of mint mobile does ryan own

Reynolds, a pitchman and co-owner of Aviation Gin, sold that brand to Diageo Plc in 2020 for $610 million, with nearly half that potential payment based on sales performance over 10 years. The actor, known for his work in the superhero series Deadpool, met Glickman through their joint work with the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. Reynolds also co-owns the Welsh soccer team Wrexham AFC, which has been featured in a documentary series on the FX network.

“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,” Reynolds joked in the statement.

Ryan Reynolds is a co-owner of Mint Mobile, a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that offers affordable prepaid wireless service in the United States. Reynolds is one of the company’s most high-profile owners and serves as the face of the brand in its advertising campaigns.

It is not publicly disclosed how much of Mint Mobile Reynolds owns, but he is believed to be a significant shareholder in the company. Reynolds has been involved with Mint Mobile since at least 2019, when he acquired an ownership stake in the company and became its spokesperson.

In March 2021, Mint Mobile made headlines when it announced that it had been acquired by Ryan Reynolds’ fellow Canadian company, T-Mobile. Under the terms of the deal, Mint Mobile will continue to operate as a separate brand under T-Mobile’s ownership, and Reynolds will remain involved with the company in some capacity.

The financial details of the T-Mobile-Mint Mobile deal were not disclosed, but reports suggest that the acquisition was valued at around $1.8 billion. As of March 2023, Mint Mobile has more than 3 million subscribers and continues to grow rapidly under Reynolds’ leadership and T-Mobile’s backing.

Ryan Reynolds’ Mint Mobile|Bloomberg Technology