Brightline and Virgin go their separate ways

[frequentflyer]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... lationship

Back to being called Brightline.

[BandA]

Cutting ties for unexplained reasons on the same day Virgin Atlantic started [edit:] chapter 15 bankruptcy

It said it delivered a termination notice on July 29, which Virgin is disputing.

No reason to give away equity to a group that isn't adding any value. With Virgin Australia & Virgin Atlantic both in bankruptcy, and Delta and UK unwilling to help Virgin Atlantic, Richard Branson has an uphill battle to remain in control. Just looked at Virgin's website; Can't believe how many Virgins there are. Virgin Trains (UK) lost their franchise in December over some kind of pension dispute with the government.

[D.Carleton]

So can we (finally) rename this forum?

[Gilbert B Norman]

Well Sir Richard, now that you playing Tom Corbett, and your Space Cadets, have decided to play up there, let us hope you choose to stay away from the rails - at least over here.

You contributed nothing to Brightline, and in fact you messed with an impeccably branded product.

I wish you well on this new venture, but good luck recovering the £200M you ostensibly "fronted" Brightline with. Oh, by the way, I note you got a little "de-shagged" and "de-bearded" for your stunt today.

[Jeff Smith]

Looks like Virgin is contesting the Pre-Nup: Independent

Virgin company in High Court fight with US train operator

A Virgin company has begun a High Court fight with an American train operator which pulled out of a deal after alleging that the “Virgin brand” had stopped being a “brand of international high repute”.
...
Virgin Enterprises says Brightline is in breach of a trademark licence agreement and wants around £200 million damages, the judge was told.
...
They said a clause in the agreement allowed Brightline to terminate the agreement, after giving written notice, if the Virgin brand had ceased to be a “brand of international high repute” – and told the judge that an “exit fee” had been agreed.
...

[JohnFromJersey]

Virgin and Brightline split ways a long time ago now (three years ago isn't a long time in the grand scheme of things, but when Virgin and Brightline split, Brightline wasn't even three years old yet). Strange that Virgin would raise concerns about it now. Almost like, they sense Brightline will have some good success once Orlando is open, and they want to see if they can find a way to get some of the pie...

[Jeff Smith]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business ... story.html

LONDON — A British judge ruled in favor of Richard Branson’s Virgin group on Thursday in its lawsuit against a U.S. train company that terminated a licensing agreement and claimed the Virgin brand was no longer one of “high repute.”
…

Issuing judgment after a hearing in July, Pelling said that Brightline had to prove that continuing to use the Virgin label “would cause material damage to Brightline’s reputation or the value of its business. In my judgment it has plainly failed to do so.”

Virgin sought about 200 million pounds ($246 million) in damages. The judge did not rule on damages at Thursday’s hearing.
…

[eolesen]

The appeal could be interesting. More interesting is how a court ruling in the UK will be enforceable on a US Based company.

Nothing says tarnished more than bankruptcy and insolvency, and that's pretty much been a trend for all of the Virgin brands over the last 10 years.

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