Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka leaves the company, causing delays in the planned IPO. Hrdlicka had successfully navigated the airline to profitability, but doubts from fund managers led to her departure.
When she landed at Virgin Australia, it was to replace Paul Scurrah. The company had fallen into administration during the COVID-19 pandemic and been acquired by Bain Capital. Despite the Boston-headquartered private equity firm suggesting Scurrah would stay, he was soon out.Two years later, in late 2022, having overcome those doubts to navigate the airline to profitability, Hrdlicka prepared to front a small number of local fund managers as the company readied to re-list on the ASX.
They, too, were sceptical. This time, the doubts could not be overcome. Late last month, Virgin said Hrdlicka was leaving, putting IPO plans on ice.on condition of anonymity given the confidential nature of the meetings, had plenty of reasons to be wary. The last time they saw Virgin’s accounts was three years prior and the airline was sinking under a mountain of debt, struggling to make money against the dominant Qantas, and about to ground its fleet. The restructure came via Bain, which made the most of administration to slice and dice the airline into a leaner and meaner operato