There were plenty of warm words from both sides last Thursday as US private equity player Apollo unveiled an offer for easyJet, which the airline’s board recommended to shareholders and was backed by founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou and family.

It felt like a big moment for various reasons.

There was plenty of drama in the bidding process, of course, with Apollo having flown in late in the day to trump fellow US private equity player Castlelake with a £5.7 billion or 715p a share bid approach.

And securing the blessing of Sir Stelios, who built easyJet from a standing start more than 30 years ago now, was always going to be key, given he and his family own more than 15% of the airline.

easyJet’s founder may have left the board in 2010 but his stance on the takeover moves was always going to be important for any potential suitor.

For a while as the drama played out, Sir Stelios kept his counsel. However, it emerged last Thursday that Sir Stelios and family had given irrevocable undertakings to accept Apollo’s offer,  opting for rollover shares rather than cash.

Also very noteworthy is the loss, assuming the deal clears regulatory hurdles and comes to fruition, of another major UK publicly quoted company.

Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at stockbroker AJ Bell, observed: “Whilst there are still significant hurdles for this deal to clear, not least European regulators with strict requirements for ownership of airlines, the potential loss of another well-known name from London markets will be seen as a blow.

“Air travel might not be as sexy as space travel, but retail investors understand it and names like easyJet can’t easily be replaced.”

The loss of major UK stock market-listed companies to private equity bids is understandably grabbing a great deal of attention. So too is the decision by many major companies, which would in decades gone by have viewed floating on the stock market as an entirely natural step, to stay........

© Herald Scotland