Richard Branson has sold his Virgin Megastores record shops in the UK and Ireland to a management buy-out team.
The British tycoon said high street music retailing was facing a stiff challenge from supermarket and online sales.
Virgin Group offloaded Virgin Megastores, the brand which launched his Virgin empire, for an undisclosed fee.
The deal creates the UK and Ireland's largest independent entertainment retailer. The 125 stores will now be re-branded as Zavvi after Zavvi Entertainment Group.
'I opened my first Virgin Megastore when I was 16, 30 years ago, so it's a slightly sad day to be selling them today,' Branson said.
He said Virgin Group had chosen to move away from retailing into licensing music.
