Barclays Sells Stake in African Unit -- Update
May 05 2016 - 2:32AM
Dow Jones News
By Max Colchester, Margot Patrick and Matina Stevis
LONDON-- Barclays PLC on Thursday said it had raised GBP603
million ($874.1 million) by selling a 12.2% stake in its African
unit to an array of investors, as the British bank pushes ahead
with its retreat from the continent.
South Africa's state pension fund, the Public Investment
Corporation SOC Limited, agreed to buy up to 1.2% of Barclays
Africa Group Ltd. shares and the rest of the 103.6 million shares
were sold to investors preapproved by the South African regulator.
The shares were sold in a placing at 126 South African rand ($8.4)
a share.
Barclays previously said it intends to cut its 62% stake in
Barclays Africa over the next two or three years. The share sale
reduces Barclays's stake to just above 50%."This is an important
first step," Barclays Chief Executive Jes Staley said in a
statement on Wednesday announcing the sale.
Last week Bob Diamond, Barclays's former chief executive, said
he was putting together a bid for Barclays's entire stake in
Barclays Africa, with funding lined up from U.S. buyout firm
Carlyle Group and other investors including several
sovereign-wealth funds. They plan to buy the stake, and then
potentially combine Barclays Africa with Atlas Mara Ltd., the small
African banking group Mr. Diamond co-founded in 2013.
The consortium of investors has finished raising funding and
will bid for the remaining 50.1% share of Barclays Africa, a person
familiar with the situation said. They haven't yet made an offer to
Barclays.
Mr. Diamond and his business partner, Ashish J. Thakkar were in
Johannesburg Wednesday and met with South African regulators and
other local stakeholders, the person said.
Barclays is shedding its African business as regulatory pressure
ramps up and the bank's management looks to free up resources to
invest in other parts of its franchise.
Because of Barclays's size, regulators make the bank hold GBP650
million of extra capital against its Africa unit. A smaller,
less-risky bank wouldn't have to do this. Barclays also estimates
that a U.K. tax on bank balance sheets means it would pay an extra
GBP200 million in levies by 2021 to keep its African unit on the
books.
Kick-starting the sale of Barclays Africa was a key test for Mr.
Staley, who has pledged to speed up the disposal of unwanted
assets. Last month the bank said it had agreed to sell its
Portuguese and Spanish credit card business and had entered
discussions to sell down its French retail franchise.
Ian Walker contributed to this article.
Write to Max Colchester at max.colchester@wsj.com, Margot
Patrick at margot.patrick@wsj.com and Matina Stevis at
matina.stevis@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 05, 2016 03:17 ET (07:17 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Barclays (NYSE:BCS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Barclays (NYSE:BCS)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024