Branson interested in picking up SIA's stake in Virgin Atlantic
12 Jul 2007
London: Sir Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Atlantic, has said that he would be happy to consider buying the 49 per cent stake held in the transatlantic airline by Singapore Airlines. His expression of interest follows news this week that Singapore Airlines, the world's biggest airline by market value, was considering selling a stake of 49 per cent in Virgin Atlantic that it bought in 1999 for 600 million pounds ( US$1.2 billion).
"I am happy to have a look at it if Singapore are going to sell their stake. So it is a possibility that Virgin Group could buy the stake," Branson said.
Singapore Airlines is thought to have approached a number of investment banks about its stake in Virgin Atlantic.
Meanwhile, according to industry speculation, a likely suitor, Malaysia's AirAsia founder Tony Fernandes, has denied that he would be interested in picking up the stake.
"No, not our scene," Fernandes said in a e-mail response to Reuters when asked if AirAsia would consider taking a stake in Virgin Atlantic.
Branson had said this week that he would consider buying back the Singapore Airlines stake after Britain's Daily Telegraph reported the carrier was considering a sale.
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