The Department of Justice (DoJ) is reviewing T-Mobile’s proposed acquisition of Mint Mobile, the MVNO made famous by actor Ryan Reynolds.
The New York Post last week cited unnamed sources saying the DoJ’s antitrust division is weighing a possible move to block T-Mobile’s acquisition due to concerns that it’s part of a consolidation trend that will push prices higher for wireless consumers.
T-Mobile acknowledged the government's review but did not speculate on attempts to block it.
“Regulatory review is underway, and we look forward to continuing to share how wireless consumers will benefit from this merger. While we do not believe an extended DoJ review should be necessary, we also respect the process and will not speculate about regulators’ next steps,” T-Mobile said in a statement provided to Fierce on Thursday.
Mint declined to comment. The DoJ did not respond to requests for comment.
The Post story noted the giant windfall that Reynolds reportedly would get from the deal – upwards of $270 million – and said the thinking behind the DoJ going after Mint is to target a high-profile celebrity and make an example of it to send a message to other companies contemplating similar moves.
T-Mobile in March announced a definitive agreement to acquire Mint Mobile and its affiliate brands, Ultra Mobile and Plum, for up to $1.35 billion. Mint is a prepaid brand that uses T-Mobile’s network under an MVNO arrangement.
Mint's marketing moves
In early April Mint Mobile announced it was increasing the amount of data in all of its plans without increasing the prices. The data increase went into effect April 14 for all new and existing customers.
Mint, which sells in big box retail stores, had been planning the data bucket boost for a long time. But the ad featuring Reynolds talking about it was shot and produced the week before the launch.
At the time, Mint Mobile marketing chief Aron North told Fierce that came about because Mint has a fairly unique speed-to-market capability that they leverage for pretty much everything. It’s a combination of Mint’s own in-house agency, called Full Bars, and Reynolds’ Maximum Effort agency.
Reynolds gave a shoutout to North during his appearance with T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert on CNBC’s Mad Money with host Jim Cramer in March. Thanks to North’s marketing “genius,” Mint has been able to “really crack that code, that digital D2C marketing code” that has alluded other companies, Reynolds said.