BUSINESS BRIEFING

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Virgin Mobile to Buy Helio

Virgin Mobile USA is buying Helio, a struggling cellphone carrier that was founded to bring the advanced features of South Korean phones to the U.S. market, for $39 million in stock.

At the same time, British billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Group and SK Telecom, the South Korean carrier that is the majority owner of Helio, will each invest $25 million in Virgin Mobile. That will give SK Telecom a 17 percent stake in Virgin Mobile.

Helio has 170,000 subscribers, down from nearly 200,000 at the beginning of the year.

Virgin Mobile said it will keep operating Helio's advanced data services and its contract-based service plans. Virgin Mobile's own plans are prepaid and lack contracts. But the Helio brand will probably be phased out, said Dan Schulman, Virgin Mobile's chief executive

XM Offers to Pay Higher Interest

XM Satellite Radio Holdings agreed to quintuple the interest it would pay on $400 million in debt maturing next year to avoid full repayment if the company's sale to Sirius Satellite Radio succeeds.

Aside from the interest rate, terms will remain substantially the same, XM said.

XM, of the District, said investors won't demand that XM buy back the notes at face value if the merger succeeds. The $2.7 billion combination of XM and its smaller rival Sirius is awaiting final regulatory approval.

AIRLINES

Delta Adds Frequent-Flier Fee

Delta Air Lines, the nation's third-largest carrier, is adding fuel surcharges of as much as $50 for frequent-flier tickets to blunt this year's 42 percent surge in jet fuel prices.

Delta joins US Airways and American Airlines in charging to redeem the rewards, a new source of income as carriers try to stem widening losses. Taxes, security fees and airport landing charges collected by many airlines on frequent-flier travel must be passed on to government agencies.

Delta's award tickets for U.S. and Canadian travel will have a $25 surcharge starting Aug. 15; international tickets will be $50, the Atlanta-based airline said.