On 14 October 2026, Fairfax Financial Holdings, the Toronto holding company founded and run by Prem Watsa, said the Government of India had declared it the “strategic buyer” of 60.72% of IDBI Bank. The price is ₹81 a share, about ₹528.78 billion or roughly $5.6 billion, which Fairfax puts at about 23% above IDBI’s book value on 30 June. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) must still approve, and no binding agreement has been signed.
Who is selling IDBI Bank
IDBI began as a state development bank. In 2019 the state insurer, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), bought a controlling 51%, and in May 2021 the cabinet approved selling the bank in principle. The government is now selling 30.48% and LIC 30.24%, according to Indian reports, so together they keep about 34%. The process stalled in March 2026, when bids fell below the government’s reserve price. Fairfax then raised its offer to ₹81 from ₹75.
What “strategic buyer” means
In an Indian privatisation, a strategic sale hands a controlling stake and management control to one buyer, instead of selling small slices on the stock market. Control usually costs more. Reports say Fairfax will also have to make an open offer to IDBI’s other shareholders.
Cash first, then companies
Fairfax says it will pay from cash, credit lines and possible asset sales. Separately, it plans to contribute its stakes in two insurers, Go Digit Life and Go Digit General, and Fairfax India its stake in IIFL Capital Services, to IDBI at market prices. The aim is “a one-stop solution” for Indians’ financial needs.
Contributing assets “in kind” means handing over property instead of cash. The receiving company often pays with new shares, which raises the contributor’s stake. Fairfax has not said how these contributions would be settled, and says the bank purchase could go ahead without them.
Patient capital, one founder
Watsa was born in Hyderabad in 1950 and moved to Canada after studying at IIT Madras. In the 1980s he took control of a struggling trucking insurer, Markel Financial, and in 1987 renamed it Fairfax, short for “fair, friendly acquisitions”, according to The Canadian Encyclopedia. Like Berkshire Hathaway, Fairfax invests the premiums its insurers collect before claims are paid, money that can stay invested for years. That lets it wait out a sale process of more than five years.
What to watch
- The RBI’s “fit and proper” review of Fairfax, plus approvals from SEBI and the insurance regulator.
- CSB Bank. Fairfax’s Indian arm owns about 40% of it, and RBI rules bar one entity from owning and running two separate banks. Reports citing Business Standard and Reuters say Fairfax may get up to two years to merge the banks or sell that stake, though a government official called that timeline speculative.
- The share price. IDBI closed at about ₹90 on 14 October, up roughly 9% and above the deal price.
A fair caveat
No binding agreement has been signed, and approvals can take months or change the terms. The 23% premium is measured against book value, an accounting figure, and is Fairfax’s own calculation.
Questions to bring to your advisors
If we bought control of a company, should we pay in cash, in other assets, or both, and how would each change our stake and risk? These are questions to bring to your advisors, not advice.
