Virgin Atlantic takes flight with surprise plot to land on London stock market

Published

3 years ago

August 7, 2021

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Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic Airways is plotting a surprise flotation on the London Stock Exchange as it pins its hopes on a rapid rebound in transatlantic travel.

Sky News has learnt that Virgin Atlantic has been holding talks with institutional investors about making its public market debut just five months after landing a fresh £160m capital injection.

City sources said this weekend that institutions’ response to management presentations led by the airline’s executives had been positive, and that an autumn announcement of an intention to float now looked likely.

An initial public offering (IPO) would mark the first time since Virgin Atlantic’s launch in 1984 that it has sold shares to the public – and would almost certainly see Sir Richard relinquish overall control of the business.

Bankers at Citi and Barclays have been hired to oversee the listing, according to insiders.

Virgin Atlantic is majority-owned by Sir Richard’s Virgin Group, which holds a 51% stake.

Delta Air Lines owns the remaining 49%, with the company having scrapped a deal in late 2019 that would have seen Air France-KLM acquiring a 31% shareholding from Sir Richard.

Selling shares to the public would inevitably mean Virgin’s stake being diluted unless Sir Richard elected to subscribe for new equity in the IPO.

A flotation of Virgin Atlantic would be another milestone for an airline which has been among the industry’s worst-hit by the pandemic, largely because of its dependence on lucrative UK-US flights.

Last September, it assembled a £1.2bn rescue package which included a £200m injection from its founder, a loan from the American hedge fund Davidson Kempner Capital Management, and substantial contributions from existing creditors.

That restructuring was implemented on a solvent basis, but only after administrators had been placed on standby.

The aviation industry’s failure to stage a rapid recovery amid continued travel restrictions led Virgin Atlantic to seek a total of approximately £300m more – in two instalments – that was generated by the sale of several Dreamliner aircraft and a further loan from Virgin Group.

Virgin Atlantic is not in urgent need of new funding, with adequate financing in place to see it through the next few months, according to insiders.

However, executives including Sir Richard are said to back the idea of a listing to provide additional future opportunities to raise money during the post-COVID recovery and beyond.

A presentation to City investors made in the last few days is said to focus on Virgin Atlantic’s strong positioning to take advantage of pent-up demand for international travel.

Bookings on the key New York-to-London route are said to have surged by 150% this month, although the industry continues to seek further concessions from the Biden administration to open up travel to the US for fully vaccinated passengers.

Virgin Atlantic has also nearly halved its workforce since the start of the pandemic – a move that has helped to drive significant longer-term cost savings.

Going public would bring Virgin Atlantic into line with many of its publicly traded peers, such as British Airways’ parent International Airlines Group, easyJet, Ryanair, American Airlines and Cathay Pacific.

Between them, IAG and easyJet have raised billions of pounds to steer them through the COVID-19 crisis, although they are likely to require further funding given that many executives do not believe pre-coronavirus levels of demand will be seen again until 2024.

Virgin Atlantic is not the only part of Sir Richard’s business empire which has felt the pressure of the pandemic.

The UK arm of Virgin Active also came close to collapse after putting a restructuring deal to landlords, lenders and shareholders.

His Virgin Voyages cruise operation finally embarked on its maiden journey this week after more than a year of setbacks.

Nevertheless, the billionaire tycoon has been buoyed by the performance on the New York stock market of Virgin Galactic, which has soared in value and enabled him to raise hundreds of millions of pounds to prop up struggling leisure and travel businesses.

Last month, Sir Richard flew aboard a Virgin Galactic trip to the edge of space, days before his even-wealthier rival, the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, did the same on a Blue Origin vehicle.

Sir Richard is now in the process of taking Virgin Orbit public through a merger with a US-listed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).

A Virgin Atlantic spokesman said the airline did not comment on speculation.

Business

Ex-Post Office head of IT says Paula Vennells ‘hoped to avoid’ inquiry – and reveals she blocked her number

Published

14 hours ago

May 16, 2024

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Ex-Post Office head of IT says Paula Vennells 'hoped to avoid' inquiry - and reveals she blocked her number

A former Post Office executive has said she was forced to block ex-boss Paula Vennells’ phone number after the ex-CEO called multiple times asking for help to avoid an independent inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal.

Lesley Sewell, previously the company’s head of IT, told the Post Office inquiry on Thursday that former CEO Ms Vennells had reached out to her four times between 2020 and 2021.

Ms Sewell said that she blocked Ms Vennells’ number due to discomfort with the contact.

In her witness statement to the probe, Ms Sewell said that one of Ms Vennells’ emails referenced the need to fill in memory gaps regarding Horizon and “Project Sparrow”, a committee addressing issues with forensic accountants who identified flaws in the accounting system.

“Paula contacted me on four occasions in total. I recall blocking her number after the last call as I did not feel comfortable with her contacting me,” Ms Sewell said.

“I had not spoken to Paula since I had left POL [Post Office Limited] in 2015.”

According to Ms Sewell’s testimony, former chief executive Ms Vennells said that she had “been asked at short notice” to appear before a parliamentary select committee on “all things Horizon/Sparrow and need to plug some memory gaps”.

Ms Sewell says Ms Vennells added: “My hope is this might help avoid an independent inquiry but to do so, I need to be well prepared.”

Ms Sewell, who struggled to contain her emotions and broke down in tears while giving her oath at the start of her inquiry evidence, was offered support and breaks as needed by chairman Sir Wyn Williams.

Sir Wyn told the former executive: “Ms Sewell, I appreciate this may be upsetting for you, Ms Price will ask you a number of questions in a proper and sensible manner, but if at any time you feel you need a break, just let me know, all right?”

The Post Office has faced significant scrutiny following the ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office which highlighted the Horizon IT scandal.

The faulty system led to the prosecution of more than 700 sub-postmasters between 1999 and 2015, with many still awaiting full compensation despite government announcements regarding payouts for those with quashed convictions.

Business

London City Airport lands FitzGerald as first female boss

Published

20 hours ago

May 16, 2024

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London City Airport lands FitzGerald as first female boss

London City Airport will on Thursday name its first permanent female chief executive as it targets approval of an expansion plan that would create nearly 1,500 jobs.

Sky News understands that the Docklands airport has told staff that Alison FitzGerald, who has been co-CEO since January alongside finance chief Wilma Allan, has landed the role.

Ms FitzGerald has worked at City Airport – the capital’s fourth-busiest – for more than a decade, becoming chief information officer and then chief operating officer.

She replaces Robert Sinclair, who left in January after six years to become boss of the High Speed 1 rail link.

The airport is owned by a consortium of Canadian pension funds and Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund, which have backed a plan to increase its annual passenger traffic from about 6.5m to 9m.

It is appealing against Newham Council’s rejection of a planning application that would see it extend operating hours at the site, which is popular with City commuters.

The airport’s proposals include no increase in the annual number of flights and, in what it claims is a first for a UK airport, a commitment that only cleaner, quieter, new generation aircraft will be allowed to fly in any extended periods.

The appeal is being reviewed by the Independent Planning Inspector.

Its change of leadership makes London City the second of the capital’s airports to name a new CEO in quick succession, following the arrival at Heathrow of Thomas Woldbye last year.

“London City delivers one of the best passenger experiences in the UK and I’m committed to building on this success even further,” Ms FitzGerald said.

Business

Thames Water investors to quit boards amid spectre of bailout

Published

2 days ago

May 15, 2024

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Thames Water investors to quit boards amid spectre of bailout

Representatives of Thames Water’s multinational syndicate of shareholders are poised to quit as directors of its corporate entities after refusing to inject the billions of pounds of funding required to bail it out.

Sky News has learnt that a number of board members at companies connected to Kemble Water Finance, Thames’s parent, are expected to resign in the coming days.

City sources described the move as “the logical next step” after the owners of Britain’s biggest water utility said they would not commit more than £3bn to help upgrade its ageing infrastructure and shore up its debt-laden balance sheet.

A default on part of Thames Water‘s holding company debts last month has raised the prospect that the company is heading towards special administration, a form of insolvency that would effectively leave the government liable for managing a utility firm which serves nearly a quarter of Britain’s population.

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Thames Water is owned by a group of sovereign wealth funds and pension funds from countries including Abu Dhabi, Australia, Britain, Canada and China.

A number of the investors are represented on boards which sit at various points in the group’s labyrinthine capital structure.

It was unclear on Wednesday whether Michael McNicholas, a representative of the giant Canadian pension fund Omers and who sits on the board of Thames Water Utilities Limited, was among those in the process of stepping down.

Along with the rest of the privately owned water industry, Thames Water faces a crucial moment next month when Ofwat, the industry regulator, publishes its draft determination on companies’ five-year business plans.

The draft rulings will be subject to negotiation before final versions are published in December.

Thames Water and a spokesman for Kemble declined to comment.