Mint Mobile, LLC is a mobile virtual network operator owned by T-Mobile US that offers prepaid mobile phone plans.
18-514: The company was founded in 2015 as Mint SIM, a subsidiary of Ultra Mobile , by David Glickman and Rizwan Kassim. In November 2019, the corporate spin-off of Mint Mobile from Ultra Mobile was completed and Ryan Reynolds acquired 25% ownership in the company. Reynolds and founder Glickman had both served on the board of directors for The Michael J. Fox Foundation , and Glickman was impressed with Reynolds' marketing for Deadpool . For Super Bowl LIII in 2019, Mint Mobile aired an ad featuring
36-455: A company "splits off" a section as a separate business or creates a second incarnation, even if the first is still active. It is distinct from a sell-off, where a company sells a section to another company or firm in exchange for cash or securities. Spin-offs are divisions of companies or organizations that then become independent businesses with assets, employees, intellectual property , technology , or existing products that are taken from
54-566: A creative role with the company. Ultra Mobile Ultra Mobile is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that uses the T-Mobile US network. Customers can choose the number of minutes, text messages, or data that can be used via a prepaid mobile phone plan. Ultra Mobile was co-founded by CEO David Glickman, who had previously founded TelePacific Communications , Justice Technology, and Primo Connect. By 2016, Ultra Mobile products were available in over 25,000 retail stores in
72-495: A fictional advertisement for "chunky style milk", showing a family happily drinking spoiled milk, with the company's anthropomorphic fox mascot comparing it to paying too much for wireless. The ad was controversial due to the gross nature of its subject material. Eric Nathan of Barstool Sports commented "Show me people drinking chunky milk and I'll show you me not buying your product ever." Aron North, senior vice president of marketing and creative for Mint Mobile, when asked about
90-533: A merch store open for one day only whenever the site opens. These include collaborations with Papershoot Cameras, Champion , and other brands. When the store is not active, it is inaccessible without a password. In January 2022, the company launched the " Winnie-the-Screwed " advertising campaign, the first major parody of Winnie-the-Pooh after it entered the public domain . In May 2024, T-Mobile US acquired Mint Mobile for $ 1.3 billion in cash and stock. Reynolds received $ 300 million for his interest and remains in
108-453: A new environment. Spin-offs also allow high-growth divisions, once separated from other low-growth divisions, to command higher valuation multiples. In most cases, the parent company or organization offers support doing one or more of the following: All the support from the parent company is provided with the explicit purpose of helping the spin-off grow. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission 's (SEC) definition of "spin-off"
126-460: Is more precise. Spin-offs occur when the equity owners of the parent company receive equity stakes in the newly spun off company. For example, when Agilent Technologies was spun off from Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 1999, the stockholders of HP received Agilent stock. A company not considered a spin-off in the SEC's definition (but considered by the SEC as a technology transfer or licensing of technology to
144-484: The board of directors for The Michael J. Fox Foundation and Glickman was impressed with how Reynolds handled marketing for Deadpool . In March 2023, T-Mobile US agreed to acquire Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile for up to $ 1.35 billion. On May 1, 2024, the announcement was published that the planned acquisition was completed as per the agreement. In 2015, Ultra Mobile was ranked number 1 in Inc. magazine's list of
162-431: The parent company . Shareholders of the parent company receive equivalent shares in the new company in order to compensate for the loss of equity in the original stocks . However, shareholders may then buy and sell stocks from either company independently; this potentially makes investment in the companies more attractive, as potential share purchasers can invest narrowly in the portion of the business they think will have
180-472: The 5,000 fastest growing private companies in the United States, with a year-over-year growth rate of 100,849% and revenues of US$ 118 million in 2014, up from less than a million in 2012. The company was rated 3.0 or 3.5 out of 5 stars by WhistleOut. Corporate spin-off A corporate spin-off , also known as a spin-out , or starburst or hive-off , is a type of corporate action where
198-630: The T-Mobile cellular network, which provides discounted pricing based on monthly, quarterly, or yearly terms paid in advance. In 2017, the company had approximately 150 employees in the US, Europe, and Asia, and had focused on hiring millennials . In November 2019, the corporate spin-off of Mint Mobile from Ultra Mobile was completed and Ryan Reynolds acquired a 20%-25% ownership stake in Mint Mobile. Reynolds and founder Glickman both served on
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#1732787072666216-814: The US, including Target and 7-Eleven . In January 2016, the company acquired rights from Univision Communications to manage the Univision Mobile brand, another T-Mobile mobile virtual network operator which specializes in US SIM-based international calling plans for calls to Latin American countries. In May 2017, Ultra Mobile announced that it was closing down the Univision Mobile brand and that it would automatically transfer all Univision Mobile subscribers to Ultra Mobile. In August 2016, Ultra Mobile launched Mint Mobile , formerly Mint SIM, an online-only MVNO specializing in prepaid mobile plans on
234-402: The big game. Part of the ad read “On Sunday, some companies will spend over $ 5 million to advertise in a game so expensive I can’t even mention its name lest we summon an army of lawyers" In September 2020, the company launched an advertisement featuring the great-great-great-great granddaughter of Paul Revere . Since 2020, Mint Mobile has occasionally launched merch through Mint Underground,
252-414: The main reasons for what The Economist has dubbed the 2011 "starburst revival" is that "companies seeking buyers for parts of their business are not getting good offers from other firms, or from private equity". For example, Foster's Group , an Australian beverage company, was prepared to sell its wine business. However, due to the lack of a decent offer, it decided to spin off the wine business, which
270-520: The most growth. In contrast, divestment can also sever one business from another, but the assets are sold off rather than retained under a renamed corporate entity. Many times, the management team of the new company are from the same parent organization. Often, a spin-off offers the opportunity for a division to be backed by the company but not be affected by the parent company's image or history, giving potential to take existing ideas that had been languishing in an old environment and help them grow in
288-478: The new company) may also be called a spin-off in common usage. A second definition of a spin-out is a firm formed when an employee or group of employees leaves an existing entity to form an independent start-up firm. The prior employer can be a firm, a university, or another organization. Spin-outs typically operate at arm's length from the previous organizations and have independent sources of financing, products, services, customers, and other assets. In some cases,
306-516: The reaction towards the ad, said “We expected a reaction. I think this strong of a reaction maybe not. But the Super Bowl is a place where I feel like creativity or pushing the envelope is recognized by the audience and you’ve got to do something to really help yourself stand out”. The next year for Super Bowl LIV , Ryan Reynolds and Mint bought newspaper ads rather than ads for the game, which offered new subscribers 3 free months of service during
324-407: The spin-out may license technology from the parent or supply the parent with products or services; conversely, they may become competitors. Such spin-outs are important sources of technological diffusion in high-tech industries. Terms such as hive-up, hive down or hive across are sometime used for transferring a business to a parent company, a subsidiary company or a fellow subsidiary. One of
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