|
Virgin
America picks banks for potential 2014 IPO: FT
Send a link to a friend
[February 11, 2014]
(Reuters) — Virgin America, the U.S. carrier in which Richard
Branson's Virgin Group has a minority stake, has appointed Barclays
and Deutsche Bank to lead an initial public offering, the Financial
Times reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the situation.
|
|
 The carrier interviewed half a dozen banks last month as it prepares
for an IPO that could come as soon as the second half of this year,
the FT report said.
The California-based airline, which was launched by Branson in 2007,
would use capital from the potential listing to expand its fleet
from 53 aircraft to near 100 over the next decade, according to the
people quoted in the report. (http://r.reuters.com/nej76v)
Virgin America has been growing its network of routes and in
December bought 12 takeoff and landing slots at New York's LaGuardia
Airport that American Airlines gave up in return for approval of its
merger with US Airways Group.
The company, which appointed Intel Corp <INTC.O> Chief Financial
Officer Stacy Smith to its board last month, posted a net income of
$33.5 million for the quarter ended September 30, compared with a
loss of $12.6 million a year earlier.
[to top of second column] |
A listing could provide Branson's Virgin Group and fellow
shareholder, hedge fund Cyrus Capital, a chance to sell part of
their stakes including a debt position that would be convertible to
equity after an IPO, the FT said.
A Virgin America spokesperson said the company was not commenting on
the report at this time.
(Reporting by Aman Shah in Bangalore;
editing by Supriya Kurane)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
