Virgin Australia has been bought by US private equity group Bain Capital after it went into voluntary administration due to the coronavirus crisis.
The carrier, which was founded by Sir Richard Branson and Australian businessman Brett Godfrey, went into voluntary administration with accounting firm Deloitte appointed to oversee the process in April this year.
On June 2, the troubled airline narrowed the shortlist of bidders down to two: Bain Capital and Cyrus Capital Partners.
Virgin Australia confirmed today that Bain Capital has entered into an agreement with its administrators to become the new owner of the airline, in a statement posted on its website.
“This is a great day for Virgin Australia and a huge milestone as we move forward with Bain Capital,” said Virgin Australia Group chief executive officer and managing director, Paul Scurrah.
“Bain Capital has spent many hours over the past weeks speaking to us and getting a deep understanding of our business and working to secure a deal with our administrators. We know they are committed to investing in the airline and we are thrilled to be working with them into the future,” he added.
The airline is planning on increasing its domestic flights in July. It is currently operating six per cent of its pre-coronavirus capacity and will be increasing to “around 13 per cent” in July.
