COMPANIES Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group has hired Lazard to help recruit new investors in Virgin America following concern that the fledgling US carrier’s current shareholders may move their stake back to its sister company.
Virgin Group founded Virgin America in 2005 with a pair of domestic funds, Black Canyon and Cyrus Capital Partners, to skirt US laws preventing foreign entities from owning a controlling stake in an American airline. The UK company now fears that the deepening financial crisis could prompt the two firms to exercise an option to recall their combined $150m investment in Virgin America in the next month – eventually leaving Virgin Group the sole shareholder, people familiar with the matter said.
