Bain, Cyrus picked as top bidders for Virgin Australia assets

Investment firms Bain Capital and Cyrus Capital Partners were selected as top contenders Tuesday to acquire the assets of Virgin Australia, which filed for bankruptcy protection after the coronavirus pandemic brought air travel to a near halt. Both Bain and Cyrus are well funded and have deep aviation experience, said Vaughan Strawbridge, a partner at Deloitte who is one of the administrators overseeing the sale. “We are in a strong place when it comes to delivering the best possible commercial outcome for all creditors," Strawbridge said Tuesday. The interest in the airline suggests that investors still think aviation could be lucrative despite being hammered by the pandemic, which prompted many governments to restrict travel to stop the virus from spreading. Many big airports have said passenger traffic is down more than 90%. Virgin Australia, the country’s No. 2 carrier, was struggling before the coronavirus pandemic. Analysts have said the airline will likely be successful in using the administration process to cut debt and lower costs, though it might need to pare back its international services and lay off staff. Strawbridge said the administrators reviewed five nonbinding proposals for the airline before narrowing the field to the two preferred bidders. Both bidders will work on their final offers, and the administrators said they intend to have a binding agreement in place for the airline by June 30.<br/>