Singapore Airlines has admitted it is in talks about selling its 49 per cent stake in Virgin Atlantic.
Reports over the weekend said that Delta Air Lines was interested in buying the minority stake in Sir Richard Branson’s airline which made a loss of £80.2 million in its last financial year.
Singapore Airlines said in a statement that it was in “discussions with interested parties” about selling its stake in Virgin but did not name any of these potential buyers.
“Singapore Airlines wishes to announce that it is in discussions with interested parties concerning the possible divestment of its 49 per cent shareholding in Virgin Atlantic Limited,” said the airline. “These discussions may or may not result in a transaction.”
Multiple news organisations including The Sunday Times, The Financial Times, Reuters and Bloomberg, reported that Delta was the interested party and added that Delta’s European partner Air France-KLM could buy the rest of Virgin Atlantic.
Branson, who still owns 51 per cent of Virgin Atlantic, has been assessing his options for the airline for the last two years and appointed Deutsche Bank to look at potential investment scenarios.
There has also been speculation that Virgin is about to join one of the major global alliances in a bid to stop it being squeezed by larger competitors.
“We are always talking to many airlines on a number of different matters but we never comment on the details of these discussions,” said Virgin in a statement.
Under European Union rules, Delta could only buy a minority shareholding (up to 49 per cent) in a European airline.