The planned IPO of Virgin Australia is on track with Bain Capital set to give shareholders a capital return of $730 million and provide a one-off bonus to all employees in June. The announcement was made by Ryan Cottton, Chairman, Virgin Australia in an internal e-mail sent to the staff, an airline insider has revealed.
As per the email, the airline will pay the employees their full profit share payments, which amounts to 6% of their salary, in June amid continued intrigue regarding the timing of the IPO expected in the second half of this year.
Virgin owns 5%of the business, the Queensland Investment Corporation owns a 2% stake while Bain Capital owns 93%.
“On behalf of the board and reflecting this strong performance, I am delighted to let you know that we have decided to pay the full profit share payments for eligible staff. While there is still no date set and our ultimate window of opportunity will depend on market conditions, we are hopeful this process will progress over the coming quarters, and we can return Virgin Australia to the ASX when the timing is right,” the email read.
In December the airline had announced a 2% bonus to the employees.