Category Archives: Virgin Group

Nationwide agrees £2.9bn deal to take over Virgin Money

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Richard Branson has already indicated he will back takeover that will require the agreement of the group’s shareholders

Nationwide Building Society is lined up to take over its smaller rival Virgin Money after the pair formally agreed a deal worth £2.9bn.

The deal, which will solidify Nationwide’s position as the UK’s second largest mortgage lender, will also trigger the resignation of Virgin Money boss David Duffy, and is likely to lead to job cuts as well as an official “review” of the combined group’s workforce.

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Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit reaches space eight months after first flight

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  • LauncherOne rocket carries very small satellites
  • First demonstration launch failed in May last year

Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit reached space on Sunday, eight months after the first demonstration flight of its air-launched rocket system failed, the company said.

Related: Virgin Orbit looks into cause of LauncherOne test failure

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Richard Branson to sell $500m worth of Virgin Galactic shares

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Billionaire puts more than fifth of stake up for sale to help prop up airline and rest of group

Sir Richard Branson is to sell $500m (£405m) in Virgin Galactic shares in order to prop up his airline and leisure interests, which have been ravaged by the coronavirus crisis.

In a statement to the New York Stock Exchange, Branson’s Virgin Group said it intended to sell 25m shares via a series of transactions, prompting a 5% fall in the share price of Virgin Galactic during pre-market trading.

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Richard Branson offers Caribbean island as collateral for bailout

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Tycoon’s blog appeal comes after reports UK government has rejected £500m bailout

Sir Richard Branson has said he will put his private Caribbean island up as collateral in his attempt to persuade the UK government to save his Virgin Atlantic airline from going bust.

Branson, who is the UK’s seventh richest person with an estimated £4.7bn fortune and lives on Necker Island in the tax-free British Virgin Islands, on Monday promised in a public blogpost that he would “raise as much money against the island as possible to save as many jobs as possible”.

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Richard Branson: ‘Aviation can be carbon neutral sooner than we realise’

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The relentlessly upbeat entrepreneur believes efficiency and electricity could stop airlines worsening the climate crisis

Life has been quite a trip for Sir Richard Branson so far, and this weekend will be no exception as he flies to the US from Tel Aviv via London with space rockets on his mind.

He is heading to Wall Street to ring the opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange as his spaceflight company, Virgin Galactic, becomes a listed company tomorrow.

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