Fairfax Financial Buying Majority Stake in India's IDBI Bank

By Robb M. Stewart

Canada's Fairfax Financial is positioning itself in India's fast-growing financial services industry with the acquisition of a majority stake in IDBI Bank for 520 billion rupees, the equivalent of about US$5.43 billion.

India's government said Wednesday that it has approved the strategic restructuring of IDBI Bank and the sale of a 60.7% stake to a strategic buyer, billionaire Prem Watsa's Fairfax.

The government said that Fairfax's offer of 81 rupees a share for the stake above the benchmark price, as well as fair-value estimates, was judged to be reasonable and approved. IDBI's shares closed Wednesday at 90.44 rupees, up 9.1% for the day but down 12% in 2026.

India's government and state-run Life Insurance Corp. of India will together retain a 34% interest in IDBI.

The Reserve Bank of India in 2017 put IDBI under a "prompt corrective action framework" due to financial weakness and the need for repeated capital infusions, the government's ministry of information and broadcasting said. The central bank in 2021 lifted restrictions imposed on the bank after its financial health improved, and the government in 2022 invited prospective buyers to bid for a majority stake in IDBI.

Fairfax, founded in 1985 by Chairman and Chief Executive Watsa, has grown into a global insurance and reinsurance company with a number of subsidiaries and investments. The company last week said it was joining the holding company of Canada's Weston family to buy British pharmacy chain Boots, providing $2.3 billion for the deal for a 50% share of Boots' equity. Watsa in 2014 founded Fairfax India, an investment holding company that is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 14, 2026 08:47 ET (12:47 GMT)