Eight months after raising $550 million from the world’s biggest asset manager, Virgin Voyages is seeking hundreds of millions more.
Sir Richard Branson’s cruise-line venture is pursuing hundreds of millions of dollars in new funding. Even though the founder of the Virgin Group is experiencing financial turmoil in other areas of his business empire.
Virgin Voyages is considering raising a lot of money from new and current investors.
This weekend, sources close to the situation stated that it was too early to determine the size of the potential fundraising effort or the proportion of debt to equity it would include.
The disclosure of Virgin Voyages’ discussions to secure new capital comes just days after Virgin Orbit, Sir Richard Branson’s commercial satellites company, announced it would lay off the majority of its employees and cease operations due to a lack of capital.
This week, he injected $11 million into the company to finance the layoffs of nearly 700 employees.
Its impending collapse is a blow to both the tycoon and public market investors who supported Virgin Orbit’s 2021 merger with a special purpose acquisition company listed in New York at a valuation of over $3bn.
Virgin Voyages launched in August 2021 from Portsmouth after a 15-month delay due to COVID-19.
It operates the Scarlet Lady, which sails between the United States and the Caribbean, and the Valiant Lady.
The Resilient Lady will enter service the following month, and the Dazzling Lady will be delivered later this year.
The firm, 20% owned by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, was founded to disrupt industries lacking innovation or customer service.
Sir Richard has funded ventures into banking, space tourism, aviation, insurance, soft beverages, and telecommunications during his decades in business.
Several of these companies, including Virgin Money and Virgin Galactic, are publicly traded in London and New York, respectively.
Others, including Virgin Atlantic Airways, are privately held, with significant interests held by Sir Richard’s holding company.
The pandemic severely damaged Virgin’s consumer- and leisure-focused businesses, prompting the tycoon to warn that he may be forced to mortgage his Necker Island property.
He sold billions of Virgin Galactic shares to fund Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Orbit cash injections.
During a portion of that time, he also sought emergency financial assistance from the government to bolster his airline business.
Virgin Voyages raised $550 million from BlackRock funds seven months ago.
Brendan Galloway, director of BlackRock Global Credit, stated at the time, “Despite the unprecedented challenges the cruise industry has encountered in recent years, the industry is exhibiting a powerful rebound.”
We want to invest in Virgin Voyages for our investors because we expect the firm to grow quickly.
Virgin Group and the private equity firm Bain Capital also participated in that round.
From later this year, its adult-only cruises will sail to 100 ports, including Australia and New Zealand.
During its first 18 months of operation, Virgin Voyages was recognized on Condé Nast Traveler’s ‘Cruising Hot List’ for 2022 and was designated the best new cruise ship by Cruise Critic.
This year, the company reports “exponential growth in customer reservations, including industry-leading re-bookings.”
A Virgin Voyages spokesperson declined to comment on its funding discussions.
