By business reporter
Nassim Khadem
Posted 10m ago
Two American private equity firms — Bain Capital and Cyrus Capital Partners — have emerged as the final bidders for Virgin Australia, with plans to strip back Australia's second major carrier rather than go head-to-head against Qantas.
Key points:
- Two American private equity players have committed to binding offers for Virgin Australia
- Virgin's administrator Deloitte is aiming to secure a deal by next week
- Virgin Mark 2 will likely be a slimmed down mid-market value service
The bidders committed to binding offers on Monday, as Virgin's administrator, Deloitte, aimed to secure a deal by Tuesday.
Both Bain and Cyrus have indicated they would not attempt to operate the carrier as a full-service airline like Qantas.
Nor would they slim it down entirely so it became a low-budget airline.
Instead, Virgin Australia would re-emerge as a mid-market value service.
Deloitte Restructuring Services partner Vaughan Strawbridge did not comment on the sale process apart from confirming the two bidders and noting the sale would be finalised by Tuesday.
He also confirmed both bidders had also already received approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB).
"We would like to acknowledge the assistance of the Federal Government on this front," Mr Strawbridge said in a statement.
"With aviation around the world in the middle of a COVID-induced restricted operations, today we've reached another important milestone in our rigorous and competitive sale process."
......................'