Fairfax will invest €70m in FBD through a private placement of a convertible bond. The transaction will be subject to FBD shareholder approval. The interest rate will be at 7.0% per annum and payable semi – annually.

FBD Interim Chief Executive Officer Fiona Muldoon said in a statement: “This is a significant vote of confidence in FBD and in our future success. I am confident that the completion of this transaction helps our business plan with our core farming and small business customers and with our consumer customers also.”

Prem Watsa, Chairman and CEO of the Toronto, Canada-based insurance holding firm Fairfax, said his company was delighted in becoming an investor in FBD after following the Irish insurer for a long time. “This investment underlines our belief in the strength of Ireland’s on-going economic recovery and in FBD’s core franchise in the farming and agri-business sectors,” Watsa said.

FBD posted losses of €96m for the first half of 2015.

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