SIR RICHARD Branson is to retain his grip on Virgin Atlantic after ditching a plan to sell nearly one-third of the airline to Air France-KLM.

In a blog post, the billionaire entrepreneur said he will keep hold of his 51 per cent stake in the company, rather than selling 31 per cent to the continental giant.

Branson agreed a £220m deal with the Franco-Dutch group two years ago, in a move that would have left the airline's founder with just a 20 per cent stake. At the time, Virgin and US airline Delta were pursuing a three-way joint venture with Air France-KLM.

He said Brexit and the devaluation of the pound had forced him to consider offloading part of the firm.

However, this has changed, and Delta and Air France-KLM have agreed to allow Branson and his family to continue to hold 51 per cent of Virgin Atlantic.

The trio's partnership, which was approved by US regulators last month, will still go ahead.

Branson added: "Just like in 2008, we're at a point in time where we need to stand up for fair competition for the benefit of British customers and businesses."

(c) 2019 City A.M., source Newspaper