Virgin Mobile to Buy Helio
Virgin Mobile USA is buying Helio, a struggling cellphone carrier that was founded to bring the advanced features of South Korean phones to the U.S. market, for $39 million in stock.
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 in Virgin Mobile. That will give SK Telecom a 17 percent stake in Virgin Mobile.
Helio has 170,000 subscribers, down from nearly 200,000 at the beginning of the year.
Virgin Mobile said it will keep operating Helio's advanced data services and its contract-based service plans. Virgin Mobile's own plans are prepaid and lack contracts. But the Helio brand will probably be phased out, said Dan Schulman, Virgin Mobile's chief executive
XM Offers to Pay Higher Interest
XM Satellite Radio Holdings agreed to quintuple the interest it would pay on $400 million in debt maturing next year to avoid full repayment if the company's sale to Sirius Satellite Radio succeeds.
Aside from the interest rate, terms will remain substantially the same, XM said.
XM, of the District, said investors won't demand that XM buy back the notes at face value if the merger succeeds. The $2.7 billion combination of XM and its smaller rival Sirius is awaiting final regulatory approval.
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