TORONTO -- Fairfax India and its parent company are indirectly buying one-third ownership of the main commercial airport for the city of Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore.
They will pay the equivalent of about $321 million to acquire 33 per cent of the equity in Bangalore International Airport Ltd., which owns and operates Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru.
Fairfax India Holdings Corp. (TSX:FIH.U) is focused on long-term investments in India. It is a publicly traded company controlled by Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. (TSX:FFH).
They are making the purchase for 21.5 billion rupees from a subsidiary of GVK Power and Infrastructure Ltd., an Indian conglomerate operating across several industry sectors.
"We chose Fairfax as a partner in BIAL as we have a long standing relationship with its chairman, Mr. Prem Watsa and we would look forward to partnering with them in developing Kempegowda International Airport through its next stage of expansion as we develop a new world-class Terminal 2 and a new runway," said GMK Reddy, GVK's chairman and managing director.
Besides Kempegowda International Airport, GVK leads a consortium that owns and operates Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport near Mumbai. GVK is also developing two airports in Indonesia.
