MELBOURNE (Dow Jones)
--Virgin Blue Holdings Ltd. (VBA.AU) plans to raise up to A$400 million via a capital raising, which is likely to be announced this week, the Sydney Morning Herald reported on its Web site Monday.
Without citing sources, the report said Goldman Sachs JBWere is playing a role in the capital raising, which is expected to be announced Wednesday.
The report said there is speculation that Virgin Blue may have to bring in a cornerstone investor to achieve the target. Richard Branson's Virgin Group, which owns a 25.5% stake in the airline, may not participate in any raising, the report said.
Virgin Blue currently has a market capitalization of A$320.8 million.