Fairfax ups equity stake in Quess

Canada-based investment firm Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd acquired 2.6-lakh additional shares in Quess Corporation to increase its equity stake in the software firm, said the company on Friday.

"On acquiring the additional shares and the spinout of our shares by Thomas Cook (India) Ltd, Fairfax will own 32.35 per cent of our equity," said the city-based Quess in a statement here.

Thomas Cook, a subsidiary of Fairfax is the parent firm of Quess.

Terming Quess founder-chairman Ajit Issac an outstanding entrepreneur, Fairfax chief executive Prem Watsa said the former was in the process of building a great firm.

As promoter, Issac owns 22.65 per cent in the listed firm.

Watsa also hinted at further increasing its stake in Quess in the future as a long-term investment.

As a holding firm, Fairfax is engaged in property and casualty insurance, re-insurance and associated investment management.

With 375,000 techies in India, North and South Americas, South East Asia and West Asia, Quess provides business services to about 2,000 clients worldwide across verticals such as industrials, facility management, people services, technology solutions and internet business.

"We help large and emerging firms manage their non-core activities by leveraging our integrated service offerings across industries and geographies, which provides operational efficiencies to our clients," added the statement.

Fairfax's Mauritius-based subsidiary Fairfax India Holdings Corporation is the largest investor in the Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL), with 38 per cent equity stake, including 5 per cent of Flughafen Zurich AG of Switzerland, it acquired in 2016.

BIAL, which operates the Kempe Gowda international airport at Devanahalli, 40km from here, is a public-private consortium, in which the Union and Karnataka governments hold 13 per cent each equity stake, Siemens Project Ventures GmbH of Germany 26 per cent and Bangalore Airport & Infrastructure Developers Ltd, a subsidiary of the Mumbai airport operator GVK Ltd, 10 per cent.

( With inputs from IANS )