An hour after its only rival dropped out of the race, Bain Capital has revealed it has officially agreed to buy Virgin Australia. The Boston-based private equity firm issued a statement to Business Insider Australia confirming it and the airline had locked up a deal.
Virgin Australia CEO, Paul Scurrah, said, “We believe Bain Capital’s proposal offers the best possible future for Virgin Australia, its employees and its customers.” He also said that Bain had won on its, “deep understanding of aviation and our culture. We are aligned in our vision for Virgin 2.0 and look forward to working with them to secure the airline’s future.”
Bain says it will now work with stakeholders as it seeks to win the requisite approval from the beleaguered airline’s 12,000 creditors. To do so, it is clearly looking to appease the largest contingent, the airline’s 9,000 workers who are anxiously waiting to hear on the future of their employment.
Bain’s Australia-based managing director Mike Murphy said, “We appreciate how difficult the current situation is for Virgin Australia staff. They are the essence of the business, and we thank them for their perseverance through this challenging period.”
He added, “Our investment and plan for the airline will support and celebrate Virgin Australia’s unique culture and protect as many jobs as possible for the short and medium term in a way that will make significant jobs growth possible.”
In the lead up to the deal, Bain had made significant pledges to employees including the offer of company equity. It confirmed it would retain Scurrah and the extended Virgin Australia management team.
Barnaby Lyons, head of Bain’s distressed and special situations in the Asia-Pacific said, “Paul and his team have done a great job navigating through a difficult situation. We are backing their plan and will invest to make it even better.”