British billionaire Richard Branson grabbed a ringside seat on Thursday for the debut of Virgin Mobile USA's shares on the New York Stock Exchange as the newly public company raised US$412.5 million.
The flamboyant tycoon rang the opening bell to kick off the day's trading on the exchange with Virgin Mobile USA chief executive Dan Schulman, and pumped his arms in the air as the firm's stock was offered for sale to investors.
The cellphone company, a joint venture of Branson's Virgin Group and US telecommunications giant Sprint Nextel, said it had sold 27.5 million shares for US$15, reaping US$412.5 million from its initial public offering (IPO).
PHOTO: AP
Virgin Mobile USA markets cellphones and pay-as-you-go calling plans to young people and said it had 4.8 million customers as of June 30. Monthly calling plans range from US$14.99 to US$99.99.
Branson watched excitedly from the floor of the exchange as Virgin Mobile USA's stock debuted.
He was flanked at the IPO by Schulman, a former AT&T executive, other company executives and two models dressed as angels.
The firm's shares, trading under the "VM" ticker symbol, closed at US$15.75.
The funds raised from the IPO were at the low end of the company's expectations as the company had priced the offering at between US$15 and US$17. The firm could opt to sell more shares if it wants, however, as the millions of shares sold on Thursday represent around 55 percent of the total.
The partial IPO follows the launch of Virgin Mobile in the US in July 2002. Customers can buy pre-paid calling cards to access phone services which are provided by Sprint Nextel.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist
By refusing to agree spending increases to appease US President Donald Trump, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez threatened to derail a summit that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte needs to run smoothly for the sake of the military alliance’s future survival. Ahead of yesterday’s gathering in The Hague, Netherlands, things were going off the rails. European officials have expressed irritation at the spoiler role that Sanchez is playing when their No. 1 task is to line up behind a pledge to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP. Rutte needed to keep Spain in line while preventing others such as Slovakia
RSS