Virgin America close to sale to Alaska Air

Virgin America is set to announce its sale to Alaska Air on Monday in a deal valuing the US carrier at about $2b — or about $55 a share, said a person familiar with the matter. Alaska first contacted Virgin America at the start of the year, triggering a sale process and interest from other companies — including JetBlue, one of the largest low-cost carriers in the US. The proposed sale terms would represent a significant premium to its Virgin America’s market valuation. The airline went public in a November 2014 listing priced at $23 per share, and its stock stood at $38.90 at the close of trading on Friday. The deal, the first significant airline deal since US Airways and American Airlines combined in 2013 to form the world’s largest carrier, would strengthen Alaska’s position on the west coast, where it competes with the likes of Southwest. Virgin America, now the ninth-largest US carrier by passenger traffic, began flying out of a San Francisco hub in 2007 and currently serves 18 US cities and three Mexican ones. Alaska, which has a market capitalisation of $10.2bn, operates flights in more than 100 cities in the US, Canada, Costa Rica and Mexico. <br/>