JUST one week ago there were two relatively young Scottish businesses with a perceived value of more than $1 billion apiece. Both are now set to lose their independence.

The £1.4 billion deal for Skyscanner has led its founder to a fortune, but the reality is that the sale – coupled with Monday’s news of a merger between Edinburgh-based fantasy sports firm FanDuel and US rival DraftKings – is bad news for Scotland.

Last month, Skyscanner was reported to be looking into either a sale or a flotation. The latter would have kept one of our brightest businesses headquartered in its homeland.

Based on the sale value, an initial public offering would have placed Skyscanner on a par with Stagecoach, a global business with a long track record of success.

Instead, like many successful businesses before it, Skyscanner will soon be in foreign hands. It will continue to be based in Edinburgh but its brass plaque and final decision-makers will be 5,600 miles away in Shanghai.

Where does this leave Scotland? Hopefully, its largest shareholder, Scottish Equity Partners will reinvest in the next generation of start-ups but even as more innovative companies emerge the likelihood is that they too will sell out to foreign money and the cycle will complete another rotation.

For Scotland’s sake, someone needs to put a stick in the spokes of this particular cycle and create an environment in which our businesses can become truly global while remaining close to home.