Onex Expects WestJet IPO in Two Years After Scoring Big Gains

Investment firm Onex Corp. expects to publicly list WestJet in the near future after it completed the sale of a 25% stake in the carrier to three other airlines to lock in a significant profit.

“An IPO would be a natural next step because airlines are very large, capital-hungry enterprises,” Tawfiq Popatia, head of Onex Partners, the firm’s flagship private equity unit, said in an interview. “I think that would be a natural thing to expect in a couple of years.”

Onex closed a deal this week that makes Delta Air Lines Inc. a 12.7% owner of WestJet, while ...