Fairfax Financial Holdings, an investor from Canada, has suggested that IDBI Bank acquire all of Fairfax's holdings in Go Digit General Insurance and Go Digit Life Insurance, two insurtech companies.

Fairfax India Holdings has also suggested that the lender acquire all of its shares in IIFL Capital Services. These suggestions are in response to the Indian government's choice of a Fairfax Financial subsidiary with full ownership as the "strategic buyer" for a 60.72% interest in IDBI Bank. As part of its offer, Fairfax will pay about INR 52,878 Cr ($5.6 Bn) or INR 81 per share to get control.

FairFax Proposal for Go Digit Transfer

Under the planned transfers, Fairfax stated that, barring any legal or regulatory hurdles, the assets would be transferred at their respective market values. Both transactions necessitate clearance from the appropriate authorities, including RBI and SEBI. To complete the Go Digit transaction, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) must also have approval. The CEO of Go Digit, Kamesh Goyal, expressed intense enthusiasm for the idea of merging Digit with IDBI Bank. Digit would be able to keep expanding its business and providing services to the people of India thanks to this change, which would greatly improve its distribution footprint.

The planned arrangement would enable IDBI Bank to offer insurance products through Digit Insurance, according to Prem Watsa, chairman and CEO of Fairfax. As an additional service, IIFL Capital will provide investment banking and wealth management in the new location. Throughout Go Digit's insurtech startup's formative years, Fairfax has been an integral investor. It has invested alongside Goyal and his firm, Oben Ventures LLP, and owns its investment through its fully owned subsidiary, FAL Corporation.

Ongoing Developments in Go Digit

The board of directors of Go Digit authorised a plan to merge GDISPL, Go Digit Infoworks Services Pvt Ltd, into the publicly traded insurance company in December 2025. As part of the plan, Fairfax, Goyal, and Oben Ventures would become direct owners of Go Digit after GDISPL is dissolved without being wound up. After accounting for Fairfax's equity and compulsorily convertible preference shares in GDISPL, CRISIL predicted in a June rating note that its position would increase to 57.28% on a fully diluted basis after the amalgamation.

The combined stake of Goyal and Oben Ventures would plummet to 14.92%. On July 28, the merger was given the green light by India's Competition Commission. The planned sale of Fairfax's Digit stake to IDBI Bank is unrelated to this deal. However, compared to the same period last year, Go Digit's net profit dropped 37.5% to INR 86.4 Cr in the first quarter of FY27. From INR 2,981.8 Cr to INR 2,730.9 Cr, an 8.4% decline was recorded in its gross premium written.