Virgin Australia boss Paul Scurrah updated staff on the situation on Thursday afternoon and it is understood be made it clear it really was crunch time.

Revenue has dropped to almost zero, leaks of its approach to Canberra has caused a run on refunds and frequent-flyer points, its big shareholders don't have the capital to reinvest and it needs its lenders to take a haircut on their loans! Oh, and Virgin is also giving some consideration to moving its head office to Melbourne.

Meanwhile, Virgin's bankers are doing their best to find white knight investors to fill the equity piece, should Virgin be able to restructure. And attention has quickly focused on one US private equity firm.

Elsewhere, we see who's thrown the latest punch in the biff between The Carlyle Group and ASX-listed financier Pioneer Credit, and reveal which credit player bankrolled non-bank lender The Rapid Loans Group.

Happy reading,

Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald and Tim Boyd,

Street Talk Editors