Richard Bransons sells his stake in Virgin Blue to Lang plc
Branson sells Virgin Blue
Sir Richard Branson has sold his majority shareholding in low-cost airline Virgin Blue, in an effort to secure funds to prop up his key business Virgin Atlantic and new oversees venture Virgin Mobile USA. Transport and logistics group Lang Plc is reported to have paid around £111million for a 51% share of the company.
The much-anticipated deal was finally confirmed today after some weeks of speculation. Chris Corrigan, Lang's Chief Executive, told the Independent that he was pleased to announce that Virgin Blue was now a fully-fledged Australian operation and that he looked forward to competing with Qantas. He said, 'Virgin Blue is now the second airline in Australia and it's got a very unique and exciting business model.'