Virgin Australia shares have taken off as the airline has officially returned to the stock market, marking one of the most anticipated listings of the year.
Virgin’s initial public offering (IPO) was priced at $2.90 per share, raising $439 million for the company.
As the company resumed trade on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) on Tuesday afternoon, Virgin shares lifted more than 8 per cent to $3.15 by 12.15pm.
After collapsing into administration at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Virgin was rescued by US private equity giant Bain Capital and delisted from the stock exchange.
Then on 6 June 2025, Virgin announced they would be returning to the ASX after a five-year hiatus, confirming its intention to proceed with an IPO under the ticker code VGN.
The Bain Capital-owned airline is hoping to raise A$685 million from the offering, representing 30.2 per cent of the total shares.
Whilst the float has been in the works for two years, the move finally gained momentum after Bain Capital sold a 25 per cent stake to Qatar Airways and appointed former Bain consultant Dave Emerson as CEO, who replaced Jayne Hrdlicka in early March.
Now the airline has taken off on the ASX once more, with a leaner business model, a new shareholder mix and the financial muscle of Qatar Airways behind it.
At the completion of the IPO, Bain’s stake in Virgin was reduced to about 40 per cent, while Qatar Airways retained about 23 per cent, according to the prospectus.
