Virgin America IPO would value company at $1 billion

Nov 06, 2014

Virgin America is looking to raise as much as $368 million in an IPO, which would value the company at as much as $1 billion.

According to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the airline is planning to sell 13.3 million shares at between $21 and $24, which means the company could raise as much as $319.2 million. If demand warrants, the company may put up an additional 2 million shares, which would bring the total raised to $368 million.

It's not clear when the IPO would occur; reps from Virgin America could not be reached for comment.

Virgin America filed the initial paperwork for an IPO in July. At the time, the company didn't reveal how much it intended to raise in the offering, though it had previously said it planned to raise $115 million.

The company posted revenues of $1.4 billion in 2013 and a net income of $10.1 million, marking its first year of profitability, according to the latest documents. Virgin Group Founder and Chairman Richard Branson's share of the company is 22%, which is run through a hedge fund. Virgin Group owns 49% of Virgin American, but controls 25% of the voting rights, which adheres to U.S. foreign ownership rules.At $1 billion, Virgin Atlantic would be a pipsqueak compared to other major airlines, including United Continental Virgin Atlantic would be a pipsqueak compared to other major airlines, including United Continental, which has a market cap of around $20 billion and Delta Airlines, which has a $34 billion market cap.

The report comes after the crash of the an experimental Virgin Galactic spaceflight vehicle SpaceShip Two crashed in the Mojave Desert on Friday, killing one pilot and seriously injuring another. Branson told reporters on Friday that “We owe it to our test pilots to find out what went wrong. And once we find out what went wrong, if we can overcome it, we will make absolutely certain that the dream lives on.”

Source: Mashable