In September, Fairfax invested €70m in FBD by placement of a bond which has the option to convert into equity.

Fairfax Financial Holdings is a Canadian investment fund based in Toronto engaged in the insurance sector.

The Fairfax business model involves taking small stakes in insurance companies where they see value and upside growth potential. They initially take a small stake and often follow this with further investments over a number of years.

For example, over the last year, Fairfax has taken an 80% stake in the third largest insurer in Greece, as well as upping its stake to 35% in the largest insurance company in India, ICICI Lombard.

Fairfax made billions off the 2008 financial crisis. Fairfax was one of the first investors in Bank of Ireland, taking a 6% stake in 2011 at 10c per share before offloading its investment last year as the shares hit 37c.