Virgin Mobile on Monday blamed tough market conditions as it cut the price of its planned market debut to 200-220 pence per share, valuing the mobile phone group at 500-550 million pounds ($936 million-$1.0 billion).
Confirming an earlier Reuters article, a Virgin Mobile spokesman said the stake sale in Britain's fifth-ranked mobile phone group had also been reduced to 25 percent from between 37 and 43 percent.
Virgin Mobile's management has been on a two-week, whirlwind international road-show after setting an initial price range of 235p to 285p per share, valuing the no-frills mobile services provider's equity at 588 million to 713 million pounds.
But in a European market that has seen a raft of IPO (Initial Public Offering) plans derailed, float prices cut and new listings trade below issue prices, the team failed to win investor backing for the price of the offering.