Virgin Australia Registers “SaleCo” Company

It may be nothing, or it may be something, but Virgin Australia quietly registered another company last week called Virgin Australia SaleCo Limited.

Talk is heating up about Virgin Australia relisting on the Australian Stock Exchange, with CEO Dave Emerson holding a series of meetings with institutional investors and banks last week to test the market appetite.

Australian Investment and Securities Commission records show the company was registered on May 30, 2025, issuing a single share at AUD1.00. The filing does not say who owns that share, which is unusual for a Virgin Australia entity.

Virgin Australia SaleCo Limited has three directors, namely Emerson, Phillipa Downes, and Peter Warne. Downes and Warne are also directors of Virgin Australia Holdings Limited, the flagship Virgin Australia company. Both were appointed to that board in March, coinciding with Jayne Hrdlicka stepping down as Virgin Australia CEO and Emerson taking up the post. Neither are partners nor employees of majority shareholder Bain Capital.

There is no guarantee that a relisting will take place. Nor is there any hard evidence that Virgin Australia SaleCo Limited will have any role in a relisting if it does happen. The name and the recent registration may merely be a coincidence – albeit an interesting one.

Virgin Australia presently has four shareholders: Bain Capital (68%), the Qatar Airways Group (25%), the Virgin Group (5%), and the Queensland Investment Corporation (2%). Bain Capital has already profited handsomely from its 2020 investment, and a further sell-down of its stake via a relisting would be extra icing on the cake.

You can view the Virgin Australia SaleCo Limited company registration here.