Airtricity founder Dr Eddie O'Connor will realise tens of millions of euro from the sale of Airtricity's north American and European units but he was always a reluctant seller, preferring instead to prepare the business for a possible flotation in three or four years' time.

With only 4 per cent of the company's equity, Dr O'Connor was not in a position to command the destiny of the company he set up in the late 1990s after his acrimonious departure from the top seat at Bord na Móna. NTR's 51 per cent stake meant the utility had the upper hand.

Having mounted an unsuccessful bid himself to buy the European unit with the support of finance organised by JP Morgan, it is unclear whether the driving force behind Airtricity's rapid expansion will have any appetite to remain in the business.

"I'm going to have a discussion with Eddie next week," said Scottish and Southern chief Ian Marchant. Stating that Dr O'Connor had done an excellent job, he said they will discuss "what role he could fulfil and whether he wants to do something else with his life".

While NTR declined to comment on suggestions that Scottish and Southern threatened to leave the process yesterday afternoon if it was not given exclusive bidder status, matters certainly came to a head.

Dr O'Connor is said to have offered as much as €4 per Airtricity share more than than the unconditional Scottish and Southern bid of €35 per share, but his bid was conditional on due diligence being completed.

For its part, NTR will walk away from the two sales with almost €850 million.