Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd's <VAH.AX> administrators have short-listed potential buyers BGH Capital, Bain Capital, Indigo Partners and Cyrus Capital Partners, a source with knowledge of the matter said on Monday.
The airline's administrators expected to receive as many as eight non-binding indicative offers from potential buyers before a submission deadline on Friday.
Binding offers for the airline are due on June 12. The company entered voluntary administration last month owing creditors nearly A$7 billion ($4.5 billion).
The shortlisted bidders were first named by The Australian Financial Review.
The administrators at Deloitte said in a statement they had shortlisted a small number of well-funded parties with strong aviation credentials but declined to name them.
Other parties that had put in non-binding indicative offers included Brookfield, India's InterGlobe Enterprises and Australian mining magnate Andrew Forrest, people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
Brookfield on Sunday told the administrators it would exit the process if more than two bidders were shortlisted because it would be unworkable given the tight timeframe, a source with knowledge of the matter said. Brookfield declined to comment.
The administrators said they understood some parties would be disappointed they were not shortlisted and hoped they would respect the decision predicated on the business continuing and achieving the best outcome for all people impacted. They are aiming to agree a deal with the winning party by the end of June.
Bain and Indigo Partners declined to comment, while BGH and Cyrus Capital Partners could not be reached immediately for comment.
(Reporting by Scott Murdoch, Paulina Duran and Jamie Freed; additional reporting by Tracy Rucinski in Chicago; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Stephen Coates)
