IIFL's finances are looking good. Know why

Shares of financial services firm IIFL Holdings surged as much as 20 percent on news a Canadian suitor floated an open offer to buy up to 26 percent stake in the brokerage company.

IIFL was trading 9.7 percent higher at 206.7 rupees after hitting a high of 225 rupees on the NSE. Nearly 46 lakh shares were traded on the exchange, which is 83 times the 1-wk average of 55,000 shares on the stock.

Canadian Investor Prem Watsa said his Indian unit, Fairfax India, was keen to buy 8.312 crore shares at a price of 195 rupees a piece from the open market to lift his stake to 26 percent in IIFL. The deal is estimated in excess of 1,600 crore rupees.

IIFL Holdings, formerly India Infoline, is a full service broker. It provides stock advisory, fund raising, brokerage, mutual fund distribution and investment banking services to top flight clients. IIFL has a market capitalisation of 6,400 crore rupees and has surged 79 percent in one year.

(Image credit: Indiatimes)