New Delhi, Oct. 17 -- Fairfax Financial Holdings will acquire a 60.72% stake in IDBI Bank for around Rs.53,000 crore ($5.5 billion), in what is poised to become the largest foreign investment in an Indian bank.

Fairfax will engage former HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh and former HDFC Bank Deputy MD Paresh Sukthankar, as advisors to help it with its proposed acquisition, the Hindu BusinessLine reported on Friday, 16 October.

The deal was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), and the Canadian company will purchase the government's 30.48% stake (for about Rs.26,620 crore) and state-run Life Insurance Corporation of India's (LIC) 30.24% (for about Rs.26,440 crore), as per a PTI report.

Billionaire founder Prem Watsa ex...