TORONTO, Feb. 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fairfax India Holdings Corporation (“Fairfax India” or the “Company”) (TSX: FIH.U) has completed its previously announced offering of US$500 million in aggregate principal amount of 5.000% Senior Notes due 2028 (the “Notes”).

Fairfax India intends to use the net proceeds from this offering to repay most of the indebtedness currently outstanding under its secured term loan facility.

The offering was made solely by means of a private placement either to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) who are also qualified purchasers (as defined in Section 2(a)(51) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended), or to certain non-U.S. persons in offshore transactions pursuant to Regulation S under the Securities Act. The Notes have not been registered under the Securities Act and the Notes may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act. The Notes have not been and will not be qualified for sale under the securities laws of any province or territory of Canada and may not be offered or sold directly or indirectly in Canada or to or for the benefit of any resident of Canada, except pursuant to applicable prospectus exemptions.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the Notes in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Any offers of the Notes have been made only by means of a private offering memorandum.

Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (“Fairfax Financial”), directly or indirectly, acquired approximately $58.4 million aggregate principal amount of the Notes (representing approximately 11.7% of the Notes), which is considered a “related party transaction” within the meaning of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 – Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions (“MI 61-101”). The Company has relied on the exemptions from the valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 contained in Sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a), respectively, of MI 61-101 in respect of Fairfax Financial’s participation in the offering. The Company did not file a material change report 21 days prior to the closing of the offering of the Notes as the details of the participation of “related parties” in the offering were not known at such time.

Fairfax India is an investment holding company whose objective is to achieve long term capital appreciation, while preserving capital, by investing in public and private equity securities and debt instruments in India and Indian businesses or other businesses with customers, suppliers or business primarily conducted in, or dependent on, India.

For further information, contact:               
John Varnell, Vice President, Corporate Affairs
(416) 367-4755

Forward-looking information

This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements may relate to the Company’s or an Indian Investment’s future outlook and anticipated events or results and may include statements regarding the financial position, business strategy, growth strategy, budgets, operations, financial results, taxes, dividends, plans and objectives of the company. Particularly, the intended use of the net proceeds from the offering of Notes, and statements regarding future results, performance, achievements, prospects or opportunities of the Company, an Indian Investment, or the Indian market are forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “plans”, “expects” or “does not expect”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates” or “does not anticipate” or “believes”, or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might”, “will” or “will be taken”, “occur” or “be achieved”. Forward-looking statements are based on our opinions and estimates as of the date of this press release, and they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the following factors: taxation of the Company, its shareholders and subsidiaries; risk of substantial loss of capital; geographic concentration of investments; risks associated with the global pandemic caused by COVID-19, and the related global reduction in commerce and substantial downturns in stock markets worldwide; financial market fluctuations; control or significant influence position risk; minority investments; risks upon dispositions of investments; bridge financings; reliance on key personnel and risks associated with the Investment Advisory Agreement; effect of fees; operating and financial risks of investments; valuation methodologies involve subjective judgments; lawsuits; foreign currency fluctuation; unknown merits and risks of future investments; illiquidity of investments; competitive market for investment opportunities; use of leverage; significant ownership by Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited may adversely affect the market price of the subordinate voting shares; trading price of subordinate voting shares relative to book value per share; emerging markets; volatility of the Indian securities markets; political, economic, social and other factors; natural disaster risks; sovereign debt risk; economic risk; weather risk, oil price risk and adverse consequences to the Company’s business, investments and personnel resulting from or related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Additional risks and uncertainties are described in the Company’s annual information form dated March 6, 2020 which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on the Company’s website at www.fairfaxindia.ca. These factors and assumptions are not intended to represent a complete list of the factors and assumptions that could affect the Company. These factors and assumptions, however, should be considered carefully. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein, except as required by applicable securities laws.