Fairfax to acquire 33% stake in Bangalore airport

Bangalore: Indian airport operator GVK Power & Infrastructure said it sold a stake in its Bengaluru aerodrome to Fairfax Financial Holdings, helping cut debt. The shares rose.
Fairfax will buy 33 per cent of Bangalore International Airport for Rs21.49 billion ($322 million), GVK said in a statement to the Mumbai stock exchange on Monday.
GVK, which also operates power plants, said the deal will help it reduce debt by Rs20 billion, apart from saving interest costs of Rs3 billion a year. The transaction is likely to be completed by the middle of this year, the company, also the operator of the airport in Mumbai, said in the statement.
Shares of GVK jumped as much as 10 per cent to Rs7.40, the highest intraday level in more than a month.
The company, which will retain a 10 per cent stake in the airport in Bengaluru, previously known as Bangalore, will sell the stake through Mauritius-based units of Fairfax, headed by Prem Watsa.
Watsa, 65, founded Toronto-based Fairfax in 1985. He’s modeled his investment style and strategy after value investor Warren Buffett. Fairfax gained from the 2008 financial crisis when
Watsa bet on declines in the creditworthiness of United States banks and insurers. This year, he’s been investing in inflation-linked securities and short positions on stocks and markets.