India’s sale of a controlling stake in IDBI Bank Ltd. to Canada’s Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. for nearly $6 billion helps jump-start the South Asian country’s push to reform its banking sector and shows the potential for more dealmaking in its rapidly growing financial industry.
The transaction, which saw Fairfax acquire a 60.7% stake in private sector lender IDBI Bank, shows how more overseas investors are seeking a foothold in one of the world’s fastest-growing major economies. The deal is one of the country’s biggest in the financial sector since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government began consolidating state-run lenders in 2019.
