Fairfax India hikes stake in IIFL Holdings to 31%

Fairfax India Holdings, owned by Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa, has increased its stake in IIFL Holdings to almost 31 per cent, making it the biggest shareholder of the financial services firm. Fairfax acquired 21.85 per cent in IIFL through a recent voluntary Rs 1,340 crore open offer.

Promoters of IIFL Holding, led by Nirmal Jain, held 29.39 per cent stake in the company as on September 31. Fairfax held 8.8 per cent equity stake in IIFL prior to the open offer. The firm also held approximately 5.24 per cent in IIFL through derivative instruments.

IIFL founder Jain told ET earlier that promoters will not offload their stakes in the open offer and there is unlikely to be a change in management. Shares of IIFL ended 2.34 per cent lower at Rs 196.45 on Tuesday. Fairfax India Holdings Corp, through its subsidiary FIH Mauritius Investments in July, had announced an open offer at Rs 195 per share.

IIFL, with business interests in non-banking finance, wealth management, stock broking and insurance distribution, reported revenues of Rs 2,220 crore for the financial ended March 31, 2015.

IIFL was Watsa's first investment in India's financial services sector. Last month, he agreed to buy 49.2 per cent stake in Quantum Advisors, which operates Quantum Mutual Fund.