EBRD intends to sell shares in Polish Re

Following an offer by Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd to purchase all outstanding shares in Polskie Towarzystwo Reasekuracji (Polish Re) the EBRD intends to sell its stake in the Polish reinsurance company.

Polish Re is majority-owned by the Polish Treasury and the sale of shares is expected to be completed by early February 2009, once the Government has given its expected approval for the sale to Fairfax. The EBRD has been a shareholder in Polish Re since 1997 and currently holds a 4.75 per cent stake. Other shareholders include Bank Handlowy, DZ Bank, Bank Wspуіpracy Europejskiej and state-controlled companies such as PZU, KGHM and Nafta Polska. Fairfax has offered to buy all outstanding 105,180,000 shares, which are held by institutional investors, in Polish Re at a price of PLN 1.6 per share (= ?0.39). Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd is a Canadian financial services holding company specialised in the insurance business and active globally. The Toronto-based company is listed on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges, the Bank's press release reads.