SIR RICHARD BRANSON yesterday cleared the way for a £900 million flotation of Virgin Mobile that would raise cash for the launch of a Virgin US budget airline later this year.

The entrepreneur took full control of Virgin Mobile by buying out his partner, T- Mobile, owned by Deutsche Telekom. He will spend the next few weeks deciding whether to list the business.

It would be the first time a Virgin company has been quoted in London since Sir Richard took his Virgin Group private in 1988, although he is unlikely to sit on its board once a float is concluded.

Will Whitehorn, a spokesman for Virgin Group, said: “We will decide what to do in the next ten or 12 weeks. But if we did do it, we would seek to float Virgin Mobile in about June of this year.”

A float could raise as much as £500 million. Mr Whitehorn said that Virgin is seeking “$100 million to $150 million” to invest in a US budget airline venture, in an effort to repeat the success of Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Blue. The group is also interested in raising funds to launch a mobile phone operation in Canada.

No bankers have been appointed, but Virgin Mobile is close to JP Morgan and Investec Securities. Virgin Group is also likely to seek the support of a bulge-bracket investment bank to make up a full complement of advisers.

A flotation would enable Virgin to maintain a substantial stake in Virgin Mobile, although not necessarily a majority one.

In December, Sir Richard floated Virgin Blue, an Australian discount airline, and kept only 25 per cent.

If Sir Richard decides against a float, it is expected he would raise debt against Virgin Mobile to fund the planned airline expansion.

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