Fairfax confirms faith in Greece’s adjustment
The acquisition by Fairfax Holdings of a 5 percent stake in Greek industrial group Mytilineos, worth about 30 million euros, is the second Greek investment this year by the Canadian investment fund, which is controlled by investor Prem Watsa – known as the “Warren Buffett of Canada.”
The deal confirms a trend of overseas funds placing small investments in the bailed-out country, betting on a recovery from its deepest postwar economic slump.
“We continue supporting Greece and believe that the country has made great progress in dealing with its serious economic issues,” Watsa said in a Mytilineos bourse filing on Monday.
Fairfax has now become Mytilineos’s third-biggest shareholder.
The Greek company runs Southeast Europe’s biggest aluminum smelter, produces electricity and controls power station building company METKA, which has expanded abroad in a bid to escape Greece’s recession.
Fairfax said last week it would spend about 20 million euros to raise its stake in Greek property developer Eurobank Properties to 41 percent from 19 percent.
[Reuters]
