Virgin America

Virgin America files for initial public offering

NEW YORK — Virgin America’s next destination is Wall Street.

The California-based airline filed on Monday for an initial public offering of shares.

Virgin America Inc., which operates out of Los Angeles and San Francisco, flies to 22 airports in the United States and Mexico and has a fleet of 53 planes. It is known for offering a variety of perks on its jets, including live TV, movies, leather seats and purple mood lighting.

The company, which was founded in 2004, licenses the Virgin brand name from the Virgin Group, founded by businessman Sir Richard Branson. The Virgin Group’s parent company, VX Holdings, has a 22.1 per cent stake in Virgin America, the company said it in its filing.

Virgin America posted its first annual profit last year, earning $10.1 million. It had revenue of $1.42 billion in 2013, up 6.9 per cent from $1.33 billion the year before.

For the purpose of the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said it could raise as much as $115 million, but that number is likely to change.

The company, which has its headquarters in Burlingame, California, did not say when it expects the IPO to happen, how many shares it plans to offer, how much each share will cost or which exchange they will trade on.






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