It is rumored that Fairfax through the brokerage firm Citigroup Global Markets on Thursday purchased 141,854,717 shares of JKH at Rs 160 rupees per share. This represents a 10.76 percent stake in the company.
The seller was Broga Hill Investments, a special purpose investment vehicle of Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Berhad. Fairfax is a leading Canadian insurance firm. Citigroup Global Markets is a brokerage based in London.
The Malaysian wealth fund is reassessing overseas investments following the election of Mahathir Mohamed. Malaysian investments overseas are currently under scrutiny following the Malaysia Development Berhad scandal.
Prem Watsa, Chairman of Fairfax Financial Holdings along with other senior officials of the Fairfax Group had visited the island on November 5-6, 2019.
During his visit, Watsa said “I have publicly stated that no one can buy any of our companies. But there is a chance we might be buying. In Sri Lanka, there is a tremendous amount of opportunity with good governance. Good government is very important to support good business.”
Fairfax is represented in Sri Lanka through its subsidiary Fairfirst Insurance. Fairfax has stakes in Nations Trust Bank, Fintrex Finance (Formerly Melsta Regal Finance), and Luxe Asia. JKH trading volumes exceed the daily average by 62.18 percent. The share closed trading at Rs 162.8 representing a 1.06 percent rise in the price from the day before. The company has net assets of 158.67 per share.
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