Virgin Group aims to raise $900 million to fund Eurostar rival, FT reports

March 9 (Reuters) - British billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Group aims to raise 700 million pounds ($900 million) to fund its bid to launch cross-channel rail services to compete with Eurostar, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

Virgin Group intends to raise 300 million pounds in equity and 400 million pounds in debt and plans to be a cornerstone equity investor in the project, the company told the newspaper.

($1 = 0.7740 pounds)