Sir Richard Branson has said he will seek to sell a stake in
Virgin Galactic to raise US$500 million for his other businesses, including
Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays.
The Virgin Group has said it will use the proceeds from the
sale to support its “leisure, holiday and travel businesses”, which have all
been severely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Virgin Atlantic is planning to make up to 3,000 job cuts and
suspend its operation at Gatwick, while the group’s Virgin Australia went into
voluntary administration last month.
Branson has been widely criticised for seeking financial
help from UK taxpayers, but he has said he has no money “sitting as cash in a
bank account ready to withdraw”. He has already provided $250 million for his
businesses but is now in negotiations with the government over a commercial
loan for Virgin Atlantic as part of the Covid Corporate Financing Facility. It
is believed the airline is looking for up to £500 million.
It has been reported that the carrier is also in discussions
with investors, with some media outlets reporting a potential new investor is private
equity firm Greybull Capital, which faced intense scrutiny following the
collapse of Monarch Airlines in 2017.