wondering

yup, I am going

Very good news if this deal goes through. Patience is definitely a virtue. First offer of 1300 Crore Rupees rejected, a year later the offer of 1200 Crore Rupees is proposed. If my math is correct, is this around $18M US, or is it $180M USD?

A few thoughts, If I heard correctly in a recent AGM, I thought Prem mentioned Ben's investment performance was better than his (over what time period - I have no idea). I am speculating, but perhaps Ben's investment style is different than his father's (i.e., less dog stocks, more quality). In this case, it would make sense to diversify to other investment managers. Again, pure speculation. I understand the arguments against the FFH culture (re: voting shares etc..). Viewed from a certain position, the arguments have merit. I am also interested in what other companies think of the FFH fair and friendly culture. For example, if ABC company is going to be taken over by Onex, KKR, or FFH, do they have a preference? Do they care, as long as the price is right?

At AGMs and on conference calls, Prem really stresses the value of the Fairfax fair and friendly corporate culture. He mentions that companies want to have FFH as a shareholder etc.. I noticed that this does not get mentioned on the board that much. A few questions come to mind. What are your thoughts/opinion of this culture? Does it really have value? Can a price be put on this culture? Any thoughts?

FIH is down today. I put in a buy order at 15.82. Let's see if it goes through.

Agreed. Here is a clip where Danny Devito explaining Ben Graham investing thinking. No other Hollywood movie comes close to understanding the investment process. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yypj-aYtp9c

I hold my FFH shares in a RBC Canadian dollar account. The FX rate I got my dividends was 1.2267. How does that compare with other brokers?

http://business.financialpost.com/news/retail-marketing/cara-operations-signs-deal-to-buy-steakhouse-chain-keg-restaurants-ltd Does anyone know what Fairfax's cost was in Keg Restaurants?

Fairfax does another debt plus warrants deal. $250 million in 5.5% unsecured debs plus Class A common warrants in Seaspan. http://splash247.com/fairfax-invests-seaspan/

sorry the subject title should read Fairfax 2018

as per usual, Fairfax declares dividend $10/shares US. date of record Jan 18, payment date Jan 25 http://www.fairfax.ca/news/press-releases/press-release-details/2018/Fairfax-Declares-Annual-Dividend/default.aspx

Now I am confused. December 7, they said they are going to issue more debt and equity http://www.fairfaxindia.ca/news/press-releases/press-release-details/2017/Fairfax-India-Files-Final-Universal-Shelf-Prospectus/default.aspx December 29, they say they are going to repurchase shares. http://www.fairfaxindia.ca/news/press-releases/press-release-details/2017/Fairfax-India-Enters-Into-Automatic-Share-Purchase-Plan/default.aspx Are they doing this to give themselves the flexibility if the prices gets too high (issue more shares) or it gets too low (buy back shares)? I am almost sure I am not understanding things 100%.

My thoughts are that the excess cash sitting on the sidelines will probably be used for bonds/fixed income investments. I guess they are waiting for interest rates to peak (I have no idea when that will be).

It looks like the sale of First Capital will close in 2017. This will definitely help offset a year of many expensive natural disasters. https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2017/12/13/1261426/0/en/Fairfax-and-Mitsui-Sumitomo-Insurance-Receive-All-Regulatory-Approvals-to-Complete-Sale-of-First-Capital.html

Appears to be a recent speech Prem gave in Greece. Similar to the Bloomberg article, he talks about the Greek financial crises. He also talks about the FFH culture etc... To long-time attendees of FFH AGMs, there is nothing new here.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-12/betting-on-greekovery-fairfax-s-prem-watsa-vouches-for-eurobank

http://www.fairfaxafrica.ca/News/Press-Releases/Press-Release-Details/2017/Fairfax-Africa-Files-Final-Universal-Shelf-Prospectus/default.aspx On the same day Fairfax India announces $1.5B debt and equity offering, Fairfax Africa also announce $1B debt and equity offering. I have been wanting to buy more Fairfax Africa on a dip, but the price never seems to want to go down.

http://www.fairfaxindia.ca/news/press-releases/press-release-details/2017/Fairfax-India-Files-Final-Universal-Shelf-Prospectus/default.aspx Looks like Fairfax India is going to raise more money ($1.5B in debt and equity). I guess they are very bullish on India.

https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/companies/industrials/2017-10-26-ppc-an-unlikely-candidate-for-a-takeover-battle--yet-it-has-several-suitors/ Interesting stat: "Cement use in Africa is less than 50kg per person, with some countries as low as 30kg, according to London-based Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Sonia Baldeira. That compares with China’s 1,737kg per person and Europe’s 230kg. "You can see the huge potential that Africa represents in the next 50 years," she said."

I started in the early 1990s after university with mutual funds. I read every investment book in our small town library. In the early 2000s is when I made my first stock purchase Rothmans (which worked out well). After that, most stock positions have worked out ok, with a few absolute disasters along the way.

I am not sure if my math is correct, but here goes.. According to the AfriSam website, the annual production capacity of AfriSam is 5.9m tons and PPC is 11.4m tons, for total of 17.3m tons. According Fairfax Africa press release, the combined offer of $464 million (155 + 309) equals 38.6% of the combined company. This implies a total value of $1.2B (464m/.386). $1.2b/17.3m tons = $69.48/ton. I am a newbie when comes to this type of evaluation. Please take it with a grain of salt.

http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/fairfax-africa-announces-partial-offer-acquire-shares-ppc-limited-support-proposed-merger-tsx-fah.u-2232344.htm I have been following this story since it broke in early September. It's turning out to be quite the novela with all sorts of twists and turns. If I understand things correctly, Fairfax Africa has proposed to partially buy PPC (which is a supplier of cement in Southern Africa) for $155m (or 23% of the company before merger). At the same time, Fairfax Africa has offered to subscribed to shares of AfriSam for $309m (representing 60% of AfriSam). AfriSam would then use the proceeds to pay down debt, and then PPC and AfriSam would merge. Afrisam is also a supplier of cement. The deal had the support of AfriSam's largest shareholders. Shortly after the deal was announced, one of Africa's richest guys Alika Dangote wanted to put a bid in as well, but about two weeks ago declined to make any offer. The latest news is that other minority shareholders are saying the Fairfax offer for PPC is too low. These shareholders apparently represent more than 25% of the ownership of PPC. http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/360/168607.html Apparently, other construction and cement companies are considering making bids as well. Every few days, there seems to be a development to this story. As long as there is a margin of safety in the price, I hope Fairfax gets this company. I like the idea of owning a large cement company is a growing Africa market.

Good article about Richie Boucher. I am glad to learn that he will continue on this FFH, although it appears not all the details of his role have been worked out. https://www.irishtimes.com/business/financial-services/richie-boucher-i-m-just-a-boy-from-africa-who-managed-to-run-a-bank-1.3213029

Sorry, I didn't know whether to make this three separate topics, or just one. I decided on one topic because it is just misc information. Please correct me if I should have made this into 3 different topics. Possible investment in a South African cement company http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/fairfax-africa-announces-partial-offer-acquire-shares-ppc-limited-support-proposed-merger-2232344.htm Prem wins an award http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/company/corporate-trends/et-awards-fairfaxs-prem-watsa-wins-global-indian-award-for-corporate-excellence/articleshow/60369027.cms Indian - Canadian investment conference http://www.hindustantimes.com/business-news/canadian-investment-guru-prem-watsa-to-launch-first-invest-india-conference/story-XdS2mQDQmxqKZrzaPM6VtL.html

Wow! According to google finance, Fairfax India closed at 18.94 USD (or up 7.8%). Does anyone know the reason for such a big jump? I don't know if the Thursday before a long weekend (i.e. very low trading volumes) has anything to do with it.