Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Thursday announced an increase in the size of its offering of 7.5% Senior Notes due 2019 from $150 million to $400 million.

The Senior Notes are being offered through a syndicate of dealers led by BMO Capital Markets and including CIBC World Markets, RBC Capital Markets, Scotia Capital, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, GMP Securities and Cormark Securities. The offering is expected to close on or about August 18.

The notes will be unsecured obligations of Fairfax and will pay a fixed rate of interest of 7.5% per year.

Fairfax intends to use the net proceeds of the offering to augment its cash position, to increase short term investments and marketable securities held at the holding company level, to retire outstanding debt and other corporate obligations from time to time, and for general corporate purposes.

IE