Virgin Atlantic puts itself up for sale

LONDON - Virgin Atlantic is racing to find new investors within the next month in a process that could reduce the 51 percent stake held by billionaire founder Sir Richard Branson. The British government and co-owner Delta Air Lines balk at bolstering Virgin Atlantic`s balance sheet with new capital.

Richard Branson ignites a bidding process for Virgin Atlantic and might inject more own funds than originally planned to help the carrier cope with Covid-19 fallout.

Virgin Atlantic last month asked the government for emergency financial help of up to 500 million GBP. These negotiations are "effictively shelved", "The Telegraph" reports. Last week, American co-owner Delta Air Lines rejected the idea of supporting Virgin citing a focus on "own business".

According to "The Telegraph" Branson had his financial advisors reach out to 100 potential investors for Virgin Atlantic with "all options on the table". The offer has attracted initial bidding interest from 50 parties so far.