Virgin Australia Announces Transactions to Accelerate Growth and Competition

Virgin Australia Holdings Limited (Virgin Australia) today announced three transactions designed to accelerate the growth of the business, diversify its earnings and increase competition in Australia.

The transactions include:

• making a placement of shares to Singapore Airlines, which will see Singapore Airlines owning a 10% interest in Virgin Australia Holdings;
• entering a Share Purchase Agreement to acquire 60% of the existing shares in Tiger Australia from Tiger Airways; and
• entering an in-principle agreement with Skywest to acquire 100% of its business.

Virgin Australia Chief Executive Officer John Borghetti said: “The transactions announced today are in line with Virgin Australia’s strategy to become the airline of choice in all markets, in order to diversify our earnings and drive growth opportunities for the business.

“The acquisition of Tiger Australia and Skywest provides Virgin Australia with a strong presence in the budget, Fly-in Fly-Out (FIFO) and regional markets, enabling us to fast-track our expansion in these areas and become a stronger competitor”, Mr Borghetti said.

“These transactions will bring important benefits to Australia, driving growth in jobs, tourism and competition”, Mr Borghetti said.

If approved, following the completion of the transactions, the Virgin Australia Group will expand to 139 aircraft and over 9,000 employees .

Virgin Australia will keep the market updated regarding progress on these transactions.