Virgin Australia bondholders move to derail sale to Bain

Large owners of Virgin Australia's unsecured bonds have launched an extraordinary intervention to derail the bankrupt airline's sale to Bain Capital and allow creditors to vote on their alternative plan for the company. Virgin's administrator Deloitte announced on June 26 that it had entered a binding agreement for the US private equity giant Bain to buy and relaunch Virgin, but has so far refused to release the terms of the deal. The Australian government Takeovers Panel said on Monday it had received an application from Broad Peak Investment Advisers and Tor Investment Management – which own some of Virgin's $2b of unsecured bonds – asking the regulator to intervene in the Bain deal. The panel said bondholders argue that "certain circumstances regarding the process conducted by the administrators are unacceptable" and blocked them fro Creditors – which include about 9000 workers, secured bank lenders and aircraft lessors - are owed a combined $6.8b. The bondholders are seeking an interim order forcing Deloitte and Bain to release the terms of the proposed sale, and final orders that would enable the bondholders to submit their plan for Virgin to a creditors' vote. The Takeovers Panel said it had not decided whether to conduct proceedings on the matter and made no comment "on the merits of the application".<br/>