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Good morning.

From the newsroom of the Financial Times. Today is Tuesday, February 12th, and this is your F.T. news briefing.

Today, Virgin looks to expand in the U.S.

Theresa May is expected to ask MPs for more time to overhaul her Brexit deal and Merck released his trial data showing their drug Ketruda can help cut patients risk of dying from kidney cancer in half. Then the F.T.'s Ian Mott joins us from Madrid to tell

us what to expect as the Spanish Supreme Court trial of 12 Catalan separatists begins today in

Madrid.

I'm Eric Krupky, and here's the news you need to start your day.

Virgin Group is preparing to mark its 50th anniversary, and founder Sir Richard Branson is laying out ambitious

plans to push further into the US market. Virgin has invested 2.3 billion dollars in the

U.S US since 2008.

Most of that was in its airline Virgin America,

which it sold in 2016.

The recent ramp-up in investments means Virgin

is losing money in the US, but the company expects this money to be paid back over the next five years.

Virgin is investing in cruise liners, hotels, and a train service in Florida.

Sir Richard has even poured about a billion dollars of his own money

into future space ventures.

Virgin also hopes to find a partner for a US.S. version of Virgin Money, the company's financial services

brand.

The company is actively looking at banking opportunities in North America.

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