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Virgin Australia shares to debut following $439 million IPO

Virgin Australia returns to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) on Tuesday, after raising A$685m ($439m) in a public offering. Dealmakers are hoping that this transaction will help revive a stagnant listings market.

After Bain Capital saved it from bankruptcy, Australia's second largest airline in terms of market share will be delisted by 2020.

The airline sold 236.2 millions shares at A$2.90 per share, which equates to A$2.32billion on a fully-diluted basis.

The IPO prospectus revealed that Bain, who bought Virgin for A$3.5billion including liabilities, would see its stake reduce to 39.4%, from around 70%. Qatar Airways, which has recently purchased into the airline will retain 23%.

A term sheet that was seen by.

Fund managers said that the shares were priced at a discount of almost 30% to Qantas's. This was an incentive for investors to purchase.

A report by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission showed that Qantas had a market share of 37.5% compared to Virgin's 34.4%.

From our perspective, Virgin's IPO pricing was attractively discounted compared to Qantas. This allowed shareholders to profit from Virgin's operational improvements and structural tailwinds such as the increase in premium ticket demand.

Virgin's focus on domestic markets and its hedged fuel positions provide resilience against geopolitical risks and commodity market risk.

Virgin reduced its international business while Bain owned it. The airline has resumed its long-haul service to Doha via a lease with Qatar, the state-owned carrier.

Prospectus revealed that the IPO would bring a windfall of fees to Goldman Sachs and UBS, as 2% of the proceeds will be paid to underwriters. The prospectus offers the option of paying an additional 1% incentive fee.

LSEG data shows that the IPO volume has been flat in Australia over the last few years, with only one listing worth $6.4 Million so far in 2025, down from $319 millions worth of listings at the same time last Year.

Liu stated that "a successful Virgin debut would help revive Australia's subdued IPO markets,"

Fresh equity supply is essential for a healthy market, especially from high-profile, well-supported listings.

GemLife, a retirement resort group, is set to begin trading on July 3, after raising A$750 Million in its IPO earlier this month.

(source: Reuters)