Bondholders in Virgin Australia, which has been in administration since April, today submitted an updated proposal to take over the company as an alternative to the approach from Bain Capital selected by administrator Deloitte.
The new proposal from bondholders Broad Peak Investment Advisers and Tor Investment Management is “substantially the same” as the approach they lodged last month, a spokesman told Reuters in a statement.
The spokesman said the bondholders were seeking to work with Deloitte to receive access to stakeholders and information ahead of an August 26 meeting at which a deal for the future running of the company is to be finalised.
Virgin Australia entered voluntary administration in April owing $4.89 billion to creditors, having been struggling financially even before the COVID 19 pandemic slammed the travel and airline industries.
According to a court submission, the original proposal by Broad Peak and Tor - which hold around A$300 million of the airline’s A$2 billion of unsecured bonds - involved interim funding to allow Virgin to continue operating.
It also provided for the conversion of noteholders’ and certain other unsecured creditors’ debts into equity worth around 69 cents on the dollar, with an option for creditors to sell their shares for cash.