stores and puts more money into Virgin Megastores, opening new stores both in the UK and abroad. 1988 – Virgin sets up Virgin Broadcasting. 1988 – Virgin sells its shareholding in British Satellite Broadcasting. 1990s 1990 – Virgin arrives in Japan 1991 – Virgin Publishing (Virgin Books) is formed 1992 – Virgin Records is sold to Thorn EMI 1993 - Virgin Vision is bought by PolyGram for $5.6 million 1993 – Virgin Radio hits the airwaves with Virgin 1215AM 1994 – Launch of Virgin Vodka and Virgin Cola 1995 - Discretely invests in AirTicketsDirect 1995 – Virgin Direct Personal Financial Services opens for business 1995 – Virgin Express a European low cost Airline is launched in Brussels after the purchase and rebranding of EBA Express 1996 – V2 Music is created 1996 – Virgin.Net launches 1996 – Virgin Brides launches 1996 – Virgin Group becomes majority shareholders in London Broncos rugby league team 1997 – Virgin CrossCountry and Virgin Trains West Coast commence operations 1997 – Majority shareholding in Virgin Radio is sold to Chris Evans 1997 – Virgin Cosmetics launches 1998 – 49% stake in Virgin Rail Group sold to Stagecoach Group 1999 – Virgin Mobile launches Virgin's first telecoms venture 1999 – Virgin Active Launches in South Africa, UK and Italy 1999 – Majority shareholding in London Broncos is sold to David Hughes 1999 – 49% shareholding in Virgin Atlantic sold to Singapore Airlines 2000s 2000 – Virgin launches Australian airline Virgin Blue (now called Virgin Australia) 2000 – Virgin sells Rushes Postproduction to Ascent Media – then Liberty Livewire 2000 – Virgin launches Virgin Energy 2000 – Virgin launches Virgin Cars 2002 - Virgin Interactive Espania SA splits from Virgin Interactive and re-brands as Virgin Play 2004 – Virgin launches Virgin Galactic 2005 – Virgin Express merges with Sn Brussels Airlines to form Brussels Airlines. Virgin retains minority share. 2005 – Virgin Active UK acquires Holmes Place 2006 – Virgin announces Virgin Fuel, a new company to produce a clean fuel in the future 2006 – Virgin Active Spain is Launched 2007 – Virgin Active Portugal is Launched 2007 – Virgin launches Virgin Health Bank 2007 – Virgin launches Virgin Media 2007 – Virgin launches Virgin America 2007 – Virgin buys 20% stakes in AirAsia X 2007 – Sells Virgin Megastore in the UK and Ireland to Zavvi 2007 – Virgin Media Television Launches Virgin 1 2007