Virgin Mobile buying Helio
From Times Wire Services
Virgin Mobile USA is buying Helio, a struggling Westwood cellphone firm founded to bring the advanced features of South Korean phones to the U.S. market.
Virgin Mobile said it would pay $39 million in stock for Helio, which has 170,000 subscribers. At the same time, Virgin Group and SK Telecom, the South Korean carrier that is Helio’s majority owner, will each invest $25 million in Virgin Mobile. That will give SK Telecom a 17% stake in Virgin Mobile.