LONDON, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Entrepreneur Richard Branson has sold Britain's and Ireland's Virgin Megastores, the record chain that helped launch his empire 36 years ago.
Virgin didn't disclose the price of the sale of the 125-store chain to the Zavvi Entertainment Group, a vehicle for a management buyout team led by Virgin Megastores Managing Director Simon Douglas and Finance Director Steve Peckham.
Virgin's British stores will be rebranded as Zavvi stores by November, the company said. The Irish stores and Virgin Megastores Web sites will be rebranded in January.
The Virgin brand will continue to be represented at the chain through the Virgin Mobile cell phone and Virgin Media cable-broadband concessions, Branson said.
Branson -- whose latest project is a a business that plans to fly commercial passengers into space by the end of 2008 -- founded Virgin as a mail-order record retailer in 1970 and opened a record shop on London’s Oxford Street a year later.
Its move to a bigger store in 1979 formed Virgin Megastores' flagship shop, London's Daily Mail reported.
Branson sold Virgin Megastores North America to investment-firm real estate developer Related Companies Aug. 17. That deal, whose price was also undisclosed, was set to close this month.
