Virgin Mobile USA, the telecoms company that has lost Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group more than $200 million (£103 million), said yesterday that it was in talks with SK Telecom about a “strategic partnership”.

No details were given but the partnership could involve SK, South Korea’s largest mobile phone operator, buying Virgin Mobile or merging its operations in the United States with Sir Richard’s.

Virgin Mobile USA listed in New York last year at $15 a share, but has lost more than 85 per cent of its value. Its shares fell below $2.50 in March, wiping $250 million off the value of Virgin Group’s 35.7 per cent stake.

The share price rose more than 10 per cent to $3.37 yesterday after the company confirmed that talks were taking place with SK. The discussions revolve around a potential deal between SK’s American operation, which is called Helio, and Virgin.

One scenario is for SK to buy Virgin Mobile, whose market capitalisation has fallen from nearly $800 million at flotation to $217 million, but Virgin’s shareholders are thought to want to ride out the present slump. A more likely scenario is a merger of the two operators, with SK taking a stake in the enlarged group.

Virgin Mobile USA has been operating in the US since 2002 and offers a pay-as-you-go service. It has struggled in recent months as the economic downturn in America has hit low-wage consumers hardest.

The loss-making Helio is 69 per cent owned by SK, which decided to invest in the US after its domestic market became saturated and expansion opportunities were limited.

Meanwhile, Singapore Airlines said yesterday that it was open to offers for its 49 per cent stake in Virgin Atlantic. The carrier said last year that it was assessing the future of its partnership with Virgin, but analysts were surprised by the timing of Singapore’s announcement as the worsening outlook for the airline sector could make selling the stake difficult.

Sir Richard, who owns the remaining 51 per cent of Virgin Atlantic, has said that he would be interested in buying out Singapore Airlines. The Singaporean stake was valued at about $1 billion last year but it may be worth considerably less now.

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