Fairfax Financial Holdings selected to buy 60.72 per cent stake in IDBI Bank
The Hyderabad-born investor Prem Watsa is leading a proposed ₹52,878 crore banking transaction in India.
Fairfax Financial Holdings has been selected as the strategic buyer for a 60.72 per cent stake in IDBI Bank in a deal valued at ₹52,878 crore, according to the Times of India.
The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) stated that the transaction involves the sale of a 30.48 per cent stake held by the Government of India and a 30.24 per cent stake held by the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).
The proposed acquisition must still fulfil regulatory and other requirements.
The strategic buyer is led by Prem Watsa, an Indian-Canadian billionaire businessman who was awarded the Padma Shri in January 2020 for his contribution to trade and industry.
Watsa, an engineering graduate from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, moved to Canada in 1972 and later completed an MBA at the University of Western Ontario's Ivey Business School in 1974.
Through Fairfax India Holdings Corporation, established in 2014, Watsa has previously invested in several Indian sectors, including banking, insurance, and infrastructure.