Fairfax Financial Leads $1.6B Investment in Bank of Ireland

Canada’s Fairfax Financial Holdings is leading a group of investors, which also includes New York buyout firm WL Ross & Co., paying 1.1 billion euro ($1.6 billion) for a stake of up to 37 percent in Bank of Ireland, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing Irish media accounts. The deal is aimed at keeping the struggling bank out of state hands.

(Reuters) – Canada’s Fairfax Financial Holdings is leading a group of investors who have agreed to pay 1.1 billion euro ($1.6 billion) for a stake of up to 37 percent in Bank of Ireland , Irish media reported on Tuesday.

Wilbur Ross’ New York buyout firm WL Ross & Co is also among the investors the Irish Times and Irish Independent reported.

The Irish government on Monday announced that a group of investors had agreed to buy a stake of up to 37 percent in the struggling lender in a deal that will keep the country’s largest bank out of state hands.

The new investors will receive between 14 and 37 percent of Bank of Ireland, depending on the results of a rights issue, whose results are due later on Tuesday.

The government said it would announce the names of the investors on Friday.

The Irish Times and Irish Independent both named Fairfax as the lead investor, without naming their sources. The Independent said there were no British or Irish buyers among the group of up to nine investors.

Neither Fairfax Financial Holdings nor WL Ross immediately responded to a request for comment early on Tuesday. A spokesman for Ross declined comment on Monday, the Irish Times reported.

(Reporting by Conor Humphries. Editing by Jane Merriman)