In Defence of Watsa and FairfaxHi All,
I don't know Prem Watsa, but he is not the Canadian version of Gordon Gekko. This was a very small transaction in the world of Fairfax and doesn't, in my opinion, represent the ethical reputation of the company.
I can't be bothered to understand all of the nuances of this transaction, but a deal in Quebec generally comes with all sorts of political and legal meddling. Watsa was probably struggling to recall the details of a 7-year old deal that was engineered by some tactician at Fairfax and was financially insignificant. I would not draw the conclusion on the basis of one Quebec judge that he's become the ethically challenged Mr. Magoo of Canadian business.
Fairfax has financially supported a number of distressed Canadian companies and for that, they should be commended. Watsa is smart and understands the attendant risks associated with these types of deals, but he is not reckless. He is infallible and some will fail, but he wins far more than he loses.
Fairfax will not be able to low-ball Torstar because all B shareholders are guaranteed the same price in any transaction as the A shareholders. I don't have any concerns about the integrity of Prem Watsa and I am confident Fairfax would make Torstar a better organization than now prevails under the incompetent Voting Trust. That would be good for all shareholders and employees.