Fairfax Financial, one of the holding companies with the greatest exposure in Greece in recent years, is increasing its stake in leading Greek group Metlen Energy & Metals, investing a further 110 million euros, the Athens-listed company announced on Monday.
In a statement, Metlen said it has reached an agreement with Canada-based Fairfax to enter a €110 million exchangeable bond, through which Fairfax will have an option to acquire 2.75 million Metlen treasury shares within two years at a price of €40 per share, representing 1.92% of the Greek group’s share capital.
It added that following that acquisition, Fairfax’s total stake in Metlen will increase to 8.35%. Fairfax Chairman and CEO Prem Watsa said that Metlen “has an excellent track record, and we look forward to working with [Chairman and CEO of Metlen] Evangelos Mytilineos and his team in continuing to grow their business over the long term.”
For his part, Mytilineos said: “We are delighted and enthusiastic about Fairfax’s further investment, a long-standing supportive and reliable shareholder, demonstrating its confidence in the future and prospects of our company. Our rapid growth since 2012 (when Fairfax first invested in the then ‘Mytilineos’) is intertwined with Fairfax’s continuous increase in its shareholding, which is therefore extremely welcome.”