Virgin Buys Helio For $39M

Jun 30, 2008 (financialwire.net via COMTEX) -- VM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- June 30, 2008 (FinancialWire) Virgin Mobile USA (NYSE: VM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) (Current Market Cap: US$147.51 Mil.) said it will buy struggling South Korean cell phone maker Helio LLC for $39 million in stock.

Virgin Mobile said Friday it would pay $39 million in stock for Helio, which has 170,000 subscribers, down from nearly 200,000 at the beginning of the year. At the same time, British billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Group and SK Telecom, the South Korean carrier that is the majority owner of Helio, will each invest $25 million for a 17% stake in Virgin Mobile.

Virgin Mobile said that it will keep operating Helio's advanced data services and its contract-based service plans, but that the Helio brand will likely be phased out.

Virgin Mobile shares fell 22 cents, or 7.4%, to $2.77 Friday.

FinancialWire" is a fully independent, proprietary news wire service of Investrend Information, a division of Investrend Communications, Inc. It is not a press release service and receives no compensation from any company for its news or opinions. All FinancialWire" news is available at http://www.financialwire.net . The FinancialWire" NewsFeed is available in multiple formats at http://www.investrend.com/XmlFeeds?level=268 . Please address any inquiries to feedback@financialwire.net .

Free annual reports for companies mentioned in the news are available at http://investrend.ar.wilink.com/?level=279 .

http://www.financialwire.net

Morning Coffee with TradingMarkets -- Free Newsletter

More News:   Market Updates | Stock Alerts | All Trading News | Stock Index