Virgin Group Holdings Ltd

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Virgin Enterprises, through its subsidiaries, operates various businesses worldwide under the trade name "Virgin", including healthcare, an airline, rail franchises, holidays, record stores, and an internet information service. The company was incorporated in 1972, and is based in London, UK.[1]

The group has undergone several management buyouts in recent years. For example, Virgin Comics became "Liquid Comics" in Sept.2008; similarly, Virgin Radio became "Absolute Radio" in the UK and Ireland.

Company

Ownership

Richard Branson is sole shareholder of Virgin Group Holdings Ltd

  • Virgin Group Holdings Ltd, reg. British Virgin Islands Flag-British-Virgin-Islands.svg
  • … …
    • Virgin UK Holdings Ltd, CH
      • VEL Holdings Ltd, investment holdco, brand licensing, CH (Subsids p.13)
        • Virgin Enterprises Ltd, reg. Jun.1972, CH

ToDo †
  • Virgin Management Ltd, investment management services,
  • Virgin Holdings Ltd, principal treasury management co, [CH]
  • Virgin Money Holdings (UK) plc
  • Virgin Pulse Inc
  • VAL TM (Holdings) Ltd, subsid of Vel Holdings Ltd
  • Virgin Management USA Inc, investment management services,

Structure

See Portfolio

  • Rail: Virgin Rail Group Holdings Ltd
    • Virgin-Rail-Group.svg
      Virgin Rail Group Ltd, JV: Virgin Group 51% / Stagecoach 49%.CH Website.arch
    • TOCs: East Coast Main Line Company Ltd, t/a Virgin Trains East Coast, Mar.2015-Jun.2018. JV between Virgin Group 10% / Stagecoach 90%.
      West Coast Trains Ltd, t/a Virgin Trains. JV between Virgin Group 51% / Stagecoach 49%. Mar.1997-present.
  • Healthcare: Virgin Healthcare Holdings Ltd
  • Brand Licensing: VEL Holdings Ltd
  • Hotels: Virgin Hotels Group Ltd + Virgin Hotels Holdings LLC

... See Virgin UK Holdings Ltd

Articles

  • Jan.12.2018: Richard Branson and Virgin Care ready to expand further into the NHS. Sir Richard Branson is preparing to expand further into the NHS this year through his Virgin Care health group. The company was lambasted for securing a sum of taxpayers’ money amounting to at least six figures after suing NHS England, Surrey County Council and several Clinical Commissioning Groups. The lawsuit was triggered by the loss of an £82m contract to run children’s services across the country. Now the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Vince Cable, has called for an investigation into Virgin Care’s complex financial structure after it was revealed this week that one of its subsidiaries, Virgin Care Services Ltd, paid no corporation tax on profits of £8.2m last year. Its turnover was £204m, a rise of 50% on the previous 12 months. However, because it is one of many subsidiaries of parent company Virgin Care Ltd, which made a £19.3m loss on a turnover of £42m, the Virgin Care’s group’s overall tax liability was zero. Linkback: Dr Tony O’Sullivan, a consultant paediatrician and co-chair of campaign group Keep Our NHS Public. Paul Gallagher, The iNews.
  • Dec.29.2017: Richard Branson's Virgin healthcare firm scoops £1bn of NHS contracts. Richard Branson’s Virgin Care won a record £1bn of NHS contracts last year, as £3.1bn of health services were privatised despite a govt pledge to reduce the proportion of care provided by private companies. Overall, private firms scooped 267 – almost 70% – of the 386 clinical contracts that were put out to tender in England during 2016-17. They included the 7 highest value contracts, worth £2.43bn between them, and 13 of the 20 most lucrative tenders. The £3.1bn in contracts, a big rise on the previous year’s £2.4bn, prompted concern that profit-driven companies are increasingly involved in delivering care, in a development that undermines repeated assurances by health secretary Jeremy Hunt, that they play only a marginal role. “These figures clearly show that privatisation has a strong momentum within the NHS,” said Paul Evans, director of the NHS Support Federation, a campaign group which monitors the privatisation of NHS services and which produced the report. The expanding role of for-profit firms comes despite a pledge by NHS England chief executive, Simon Stevens – backed by Hunt – to abolish the purchaser/provider split in the health service introduced by Margaret Thatcher’s govt in 1990, which helped facilitate competition in healthcare and the outsourcing of services, and promote greater integration of health and social care services. Its growing role has prompted particular anger among anti-privatisation groups. It pays no tax in the UK and its ultimate parent company, Virgin Group Holdings Ltd, is based in the British Virgin Islands, a tax haven. In addition, it came under fire for suing 6 Clinical Commissioning Groups in Surrey, NHS England and Surrey County Council last year after losing an £82m contract for children’s services to a rival bid involving a local NHS trust and two social enterprises. A settlement of the action appears to have involved the 6 CCGs paying Virgin an undisclosed sum. Linkback: Circle, Care Quality Commission, Serco, Coperforma, Care UK, NHS#Privatisation Denis Capbell, The Guardian.
  • Sept.09.2012: Jeremy Hunt is criticised for his role in £650m Virgin Care hospital deal. New health Jeremy Hunt secretary stepped in to speed up private takeover of NHS services in his Surrey constituency. Hunt, who replaced Andrew Lansley in last week's cabinet reshuffle, was so concerned by a delay to the £650m deal earlier this year that he asked for assurances from NHS Surrey officials that it would be swiftly signed. Virgin Care, which is part-owned by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group, subsequently agreed on a 5-year contract in March to run 7 hospitals along with dentistry services, sexual health clinics, breast cancer screening and other community services. The takeover took place despite concerns being raised in the local NHS risk register about the impact on patient care following the transfer of management from the NHS to one of the country's largest private healthcare firms, until recently known as Assura Medical. Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said this would add to concerns about Hunt's appointment and his affinity to big business so soon after the furore over the minister's relationship with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp while he was culture secretary during the attempted takeover of BSkyB. "Yet again Jeremy Hunt bent over backwards for powerful private interests. Never before has a health secretary handed over his local NHS lock, stock and barrel to the private sector." Daniel Boffey, The Guardian.
  • Jan.10.2010: Virgin Care services rated "Good" by Care Quality Commission, even though most locations haven’t been inspected. The Dept of Health and Social Care body gives Virgin Care top ratings for safety, effectiveness, care and responsiveness in its online report, awarding the private sector company “Outstanding” for its leadership. Of the 34 services listed on the site, well over half (23 in all) have not been inspected, and in many cases the services are rated based on old providers – including Nye Bevan House. Jack Peat, The London Economic.

Timelines

Virgin Health Bank Ltd

Ultimate Parent: The Qatar FoundationWikipedia-W.svg

  • Virgin Health Bank QSTP LLC
    • Precision Cellular Storage Ltd, was Virgin Health Bank Ltd, CH
Timeline
  • Aug.2018: Precision Cellular Storage Ltd: name changed.
  • Jul.2016: VHB Ltd ceased trading; principal activity became the ongoing storage of existing umbilical cord blood samples and ancillary services. Accounts, Jun.2017, p.3
  • Jul.2013: Qatar FoundationWikipedia-W.svg acquired VHB QSTP LLC, by buying out the shares held by Merlin Bioscience Fund III LP, Merlin Bioscience Fund III 2007 LP, and Stem Cell Holdings Ltd. Accounts Mar.2013, p.8
  • Jan.2009: VHB Ltd became a 100% owned subsidiary of VHB QSTP LLC. Loans from Merlin Biosciences and Stem Cells Holdings were converted to equity in VHB Ltd. A share swap between VHB Ltd and VHB QSTP LLC was effected. End result: Merlin Biosciences (33.85%); Stem Cells Holdings (32.82%); QST SPC (33.33%) stake in VHB QSTP LLC. Accounts Mar.2009, pp.14,15
  • Dec.2008: Virgin Health Bank QSTP LLC (VHB QSTP LLC) was incorporated. Share capital holdings: Merlin (20.77%), and Stem Cell Holdings (49.23%). Qatar Science and Technology SPC (QST SPC) was issued shares in Jan.2009. Accounts Mar.2007, p.2, ref, ref
  • Jan.2007: Virgin Health Bank Ltd (VHB Ltd) - name changed. AR-Mar.2006, p.1 Website
  • Feb.2005: Cells Centre Ltd established to combine storage services with educational initiatives for families and the medical community.ref The company was launched by Sir Christopher EvansWikipedia-W.svg, Chairman of Excalibur and a biotechnology entrepreneur, and Sir Richard Branson, both passionate believers in the benefits of stem cell therapies. ref
Notes: Merlin Biosciences Fund III LP = UK LLP. Merlin Biosciences Fund III 2007 LP was formerly Merlin Biosciences Fund III GmbH & Co. KG, a German LP. Stem Cells Holdings Ltd ultimate parent = Virgin Group Investments Ltd, reg. BVI. (AR-Mar.2009, p.15)

Richard Branson

Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson ...

  • May.04.2018: Richard Branson teams up with old friend in private equity move. Sir Richard Branson is to make a new foray into private equity by going into partnership with an old friend, John Sinik, founder of Metric Capital Partners, to invest more than $2bn in consumer businesses over the next decade. Some of the largest private equity funds on record were also created last year, with Apollo Global Management, an American firm, raising a $25bn fund and CVC Capital Partners, a European buyout firm, raising one of a €16bn. Sir Richard has invested $hundreds of millions in start-up businesses. Virgin Media launched Voom Pitch 2018 to find the next unicorn businesses — those valued at more than $1bn — in the UK and Ireland. Tabby Kinder, The Sunday Times.