Virgin Australia narrows down the shortlist of bidders for the troubled airline to two: private investment firm Bain Capital and global investor Cyrus Capital Partners.

Virgin Australia has narrowed the shortlist of bidders for the troubled airline down to two: private investment firm Bain Capital and global investor Cyrus Capital Partners.
Virgin administrator Deloitte, led by Vaughan Strawbridge, has spent the past two days grilling the shortlisted parties about their offers.
He said the next stage in the sale of the business and assets of Virgin Australia begins today.
With the coronavirus crisis bringing the travel industry to a halt, Virgin Australia went into administration on April 21, owing about $7 billion to about 12,000 creditors.
There had been about 20 interested parties, including a last-ditch bid by the Queensland Government.
The shortlist was then narrowed down to four bidders, which, aside from Bain Capital and Cyrus Capital, had included private equity firm BGH Capital and US aviation investor Indigo Partners.
“Five non-binding indicative proposals were received on Friday, and they have now been further short-listed to two preferred bidders,” Mr Strawbridge said.
“Both Bain Capital and Cyrus Capital Partners are well-funded, have deep aviation experience, and they see real value in the business and its future.”
Final bids are due on June 12.
Mr Strawbridge said it was still their intention to have a binding agreement in place by June 30.
“There will also be speculation that entities associated with the parties that have not moved into this next phase, as well as others, could become involved in some capacity with the remaining parties,” he said.
“That will, of course, be a matter for them.”
More to come.