The Central and Eastern Europe unit of MVNO Virgin Mobile, part of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, has secured €40m (US$51.8m) in financial backing from four investors to help fund expansion plans. CEE Mobile Capital, Delta Partners Emerging…
The Central and Eastern Europe unit of MVNO Virgin Mobile, part of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, has secured €40m (US$51.8m) in financial backing from four investors to help fund expansion plans.
CEE Mobile Capital, Delta Partners Emerging Markets TMT Growth Fund II, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Financial Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, will provide the €40m in equity capital, Virgin Mobile Central and Eastern Europe (VMCEE) said in a statement.
Proceeds will be used to launch the Virgin Mobile brand in Turkey, scheduled for 2015, fund growth at Virgin Mobile Poland and finance future expansion opportunities in the region, the company said.
The funding creates a combined shareholder group which also includes the Virgin Group, ePlanet Ventures, Archimedia and Dirlango.
Virgin Mobile operates as an MVNO internationally and VMCEE was founded to develop its business across the CEE region. The Polish operation launched in 2012 and VMCEE said the new capital will position it for “significant, accelerated customer growth”.
VMCEE described Turkey as “a hugely attractive market with a very large, young, mobile-loving population and very attractive growth prospects”.
