Virgin Mobile has very recently announced its acquisition of the Helio brand to the tune of $39 million from the latter’s parent companies, SK Telecom and Earthlink.

The much-talked about merger resulted in Virgin becoming the only significant mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) in the United States. With the purchase deal, Helio’s 170,000 customers will be automatically absorbed into Virgin Mobile’s network. The buyout also paves the way for Virgin Mobile’s entry into the lucrative postpaid market. This new venture for Virgin will save them a year’s worth of expansion efforts offering postpaid contracts since they will be making use of Helio’s established industry platform and infrastructure. Furthermore, Virgin will be inheriting a massive Helio inventory made up of roughly 85,000 handsets amounting to $17 million, which should help in its intention to get in to the high-end mobile phone market.

Meanwhile, Helio will need to go through a lot of cost reduction moves before the purchase deal closes in Q3 of the current year. This would include employee layoff and closure of Helio’s retail locations. Helio parent company SK Telecom and the Virgin Group will contribute funds to settle Helio’s debts and cover integration expenses.