Local media is reporting that Deloitte have narrowed Virgin Australia’s potential buyers down to two – Bain Capital and Cyrus Capital Partners.
The original shortlist also included US based budget airline investor Indigo Partners and Australian company BGH Capital.
Bain Capital has $US105 billion ($A155 billion) in assets under management and has former Jetstar chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka assisting with it’s bid.
Cyrus Capital Partners, based in NY, has $US4 billion ($A6 billion) in investments globally. Cyrus’ founder Stephen Friedman has previously served on Virgin America’s board.
Canadian firm Brookfield, which has $US515 billion ($A760 billion) of assets under management, also submitted a non-binding bid last Friday, despite dropping out of the race earlier in the process.
Media reports that Cyrus intends to keep Virgin as a full service airline, with Bain planning on making it a “hybrid” airline positioned between Qantas and Jetstar.
Final bids for the airline are due 12 June with Deloitte wanting to complete the process by 30 June.