Australian Virgin move

It looks like an American private equity company could  soon be the owners of Virgin Australia (see BTN 8 June).

What was seen as a two-horse race, between Bain Capital, based in Boston (USA), and rival bidder Cyrus Capital seems to be over with the Richard Branson-linked rival bidder pulling out, claiming that the administrator, Deloitte, had failed to engage with its proposal.  Virgins 6,000 unsecured bond holders tabled a separate recapitalisation proposal last week but that would mean a liquidation of the company and its remaining assets with little left for creditors.

Paul Scurrah, Virgin Australia current chief executive, says that the Bain offer is the “best possible future" for the company, positioning the airline somewhere between the full service Qantas and its Jetstar low-cost subsidiary. 

The whole matter is not likely to be resolved until mid-August.

www.virginaustralia.com/au/en

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