Virgin Mobile USA launches IPO

Virgin Mobile USA has floated 27,500,000 shares of Class A common stock priced at $15.00 per share on the New York Stock Exchange today. The shares began trading today under the symbol "VM."

Of the 27,500,000 shares, the company sold 25,467,160 shares, while the remaining shares were sold by certain stockholders. Lehman Brothers was lead manager and book runner for the offering, with Merrill Lynch & Co. and Bear Stearns & Co acting as joint book-running managers. 

Only about 44 percent of Virgin Mobile was floated, since Sprint is holding on to 17.2 percent and Richard Branson's group will retain 35.7 percent. The IPO price comes out to about $412 million, which is at the low range of the original estimates.

For more on Virgin Mobile's IPO:
- read this press release
- read this WSJ article

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