Prem Watsa: The Indian Who Bailed Out The Bank Of Ireland

[Parsad]

New article in "The Economic Times" about Prem.  Cheers!

 

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/nri/nris-in-news/prem-watsa-the-indian-who-bailed-out-bank-of-ireland/articleshow/9890516.cms

[Ballinvarosig Investors]

Very disingenuous title.

 

Prem Watsa has not "bailed out" The Bank of Ireland at all. The Irish taxpayer has been stung most by having to purchase billions of Euro worth of toxic land and development loans at an inflated price, also by providing liquidity (in reality, cash for trash), and also by pumping in billions of Euro more than Watsa has for an even smaller stake. The ECB is also on the hook as it provides funding at below market cost for the bank (loans/deposit ratio is over 160%). In reality, Watsa basically got a stake in a bank at a fair price. Had he not invested, the IMF would merely have provided the Irish government with the money anyway.

[Parsad]

I agree, but I think "The Economic Times" was more focused on an NRI who had a very large hand in saving the institution.  Cheers!

[BargainValueHunter]

http://www.businessandleadership.com/leadership/item/42029-bank-of-ireland-appoints/

 

"Fairfax invested in Bank of Ireland in the summer of 2011 and since then the bank has made very significant progress against its strategic objectives,” said Watsa. “Fairfax continues to be confident in the outstanding leadership of the CEO, his management team and the board of Bank of Ireland Group.

 

“Reflecting the progress made and my other commitments, I feel that now is the appropriate time for me to step down from the board.  I am pleased that we have been able to offer someone of Brad's calibre and experience as our nominee to the Bank of Ireland Group's board as Fairfax, as long term focused investors, continue to support Bank of Ireland in the achievement of its strategic objectives."

[dcollon]

Ghostbusting Bad Bank Summoning Cranes Back to Dublin

from: Bloomberg

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-25/ghostbusting-bad-bank-summoning-cranes-back-to-dublin.html