Virgin Australia

Virgin Australia said yesterday that it would add seven more Boeing 737 NG planes to its fleet, nearly restoring it to pre-pandemic levels, to help meet a goal of obtaining a one-third share of Australia's domestic travel market.

Australia's second-largest airline said the agreed letters of intent would give it a fleet of 84 737 NGs, just one shy of the 85 it operated before it entered voluntary administration last year and handed back many of its planes to lessors.

The carrier is owned by American private equity group Bain Capital.

REUTERS

China Huarong

Chinese state-owned asset manager China Huarong Asset Management said on Wednesday it will receive fresh capital worth 42 billion yuan (S$8.9 billion) from a state consortium led by Citic Group as part of a restructuring plan.

Huarong will issue up to 39.22 billion domestic shares and not more than 1.96 billion shares listed on the Hong Kong exchange to a consortium of investors including Citic Group, China Cinda Asset Management and China Life Insurance. The deal will allow Citic Group to assume the Chinese government's controlling stake in the embattled asset manager.

REUTERS

Ellipsiz

Engineering solutions firm Ellipsiz yesterday said it is planning a foray into the agri-food industry.

In a bourse filing, Ellipsiz said it has entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement to buy a 20 per cent stake in ISE Capital Management (ICM) for $2 million. ICM owns a 70 per cent interest in ISE Foods Holdings (IFH), which signed a memorandum of understanding with the Singapore Food Agency in September for IFH to develop and operate the fourth egg farm in Singapore.

The egg farm will be developed in phases and is expected to be completed in 2026.

THE BUSINESS TIMES