Bain Capital’s IPO candidate Virgin Australia mulls corporate job cuts
Redundancies are on the cards at the Brisbane headquarters of Bain Capital’s big IPO candidate Virgin Australia. The airline is preparing to haul in its general managers and issue an exit target for their respective business lines. Managers will be given several weeks to generate a plan.
But sources told Street Talk that similar targets haven’t been applied at the executive level. Virgin confirmed it was “reviewing the structure” of its corporate team, adding there was not a “fixed target for this process”.
In January, Virgin chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka said the airline, which was plucked out of administration by Bain in 2020, was heading toward revenues of some $2.5 billion for the six months to December 31. That would have been more than the $2.2 billion in revenues generated for the entire previous financial year, although Virgin did not disclose a profit guidance.
Virgin Australia is on the IPO tarmac, but has clearly missed the first-half window.
On Thursday evening, a Virgin spokesman said: “We remain vigilant regarding our focus on productivity improvement and cost discipline, which are a natural and necessary part of ensuring Virgin’s long-term success.
“We are, of course, as part of the journey, reviewing the structure of our corporate team,” he told Street Talk.
Bain put Virgin’s roadshow on ice in April. It had been hoping to place the company back on the ASX this year, and has engaged Barrenjoey, Goldman Sachs and UBS to assist it in that effort.
The company has appointed former Macquarie chairman Peter Warne and ex-Goldman Sachs managing director Pippa Downes to the board in preparation for life as a listed entity.
Sources told Street Talk that some concerns are mounting within the company that Virgin
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