UPDATE 1-Fairfax to buy Polish reinsurer for $72 million

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Sept 8 (Reuters) - Canada-based insurance and asset management company Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd FFH.N (FFH.TO) said it offered to acquire a Polish reinsurer for about $72 million to expand its presence in Central and Eastern Europe.

Fairfax said it received commitments to the tender offer from shareholders holding about 47 percent of the target company, Polskie Towarzystwo Reasekuracji Spolka Akcyjna.

Fairfax owns a majority of Toronto-based insurer Northbridge Financial Corp NB.TO and other property and casualty insurers in the United States and Asia.

The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2009, Fairfax said.

Shares of the company closed at $212.68 Friday on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Anurag Kotoky in Bangalore; Editing by Anil D'Silva)