Virgin Australia administrator Deloitte has whittled down interested suitors to a shortlist of four ‘highly credentialed’ bidders.
According to Australian media, the shortlist is made up of investment firms Bain Capital, BGH Capital, Cyrus Capital Partners, and US based Indigo Partners, which has interests in a number of budget airlines including Wizz Air, Frontier Airlines and Volaris.
In fact all the shortlisted firms have ‘strong aviation credentials’ Delotte said.
"We received more interest than anticipated from parties who are eager to be a part of the future of Virgin Australia," lead administrator Vaughan Strawbridge said.
"We are delighted by the strength of each of those on the shortlist, with parties selected being well-funded.
Bidders which either pulled out or didn’t make the cut include the Queensland State Government and India based InterGlobe which is the parent company of low cost carrier IndiGo.
"We understand some parties will be disappointed that they have not been invited to continue their interest," Mr Strawbridge said.
"We hope they will respect our decision, which is predicated on the business continuing and achieving the best outcome for all people impacted."
Both Bain Capital and Cyrus Capital partners have strong links to Virgin founder Richard Branson.
Final bids are due on June 12.
The administrator said it aims to get the best ‘commercial solution’ for the airline that protects as many jobs as possible.
Virgin Australia went into administration a month ago, with debts of about A$7 billion.
