This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/apr/26/bob-diamond-interest-in-barclays-africa-confirmed
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Bob Diamond's interest in Barclays Africa confirmed | Bob Diamond's interest in Barclays Africa confirmed |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Former Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond is part of a consortium that is preparing to bid for the bank’s African operations, it has been confirmed. | |
| Diamond’s involvement in the consortium, which is thought to include the private equity firm Carlyle, was revealed in a stock market announcement by the London-listed African based bank, Atlas Mara, which he formed after being forced out of Barclays in the wake of the Libor-rigging crisis in 2012. | Diamond’s involvement in the consortium, which is thought to include the private equity firm Carlyle, was revealed in a stock market announcement by the London-listed African based bank, Atlas Mara, which he formed after being forced out of Barclays in the wake of the Libor-rigging crisis in 2012. |
| Barclays said last month that it wanted to sell its South African arm, in which it has a 62.3% stake, to help reduce the complexity of the group and to save capital. | Barclays said last month that it wanted to sell its South African arm, in which it has a 62.3% stake, to help reduce the complexity of the group and to save capital. |
| There was no detail about the size of any deal for Barclays Africanoperations, which are currently valued at about $3.6bn (£2.4bn). Barclays announced last month it wanted to sell to reduce the complexity of its operations and to save capital. | |
| Atlas Mara, which has operations in seven African countries, also indicated that it expects to be taken over by the the consortium if a deal is struck. | |
| “In the event that the consortium reaches a definitive agreement with Barclays in relation to Barclays Africa, it is expected that Atlas Mara will enter into substantive discussions about the potential combination with the consortium,” Atlas Mara said. | “In the event that the consortium reaches a definitive agreement with Barclays in relation to Barclays Africa, it is expected that Atlas Mara will enter into substantive discussions about the potential combination with the consortium,” Atlas Mara said. |
| “Given the significant complexity and early stage of the discussions with the consortium, there can be no assurance that the transactions discussed above, including the potential combination, will be completed.” | “Given the significant complexity and early stage of the discussions with the consortium, there can be no assurance that the transactions discussed above, including the potential combination, will be completed.” |
| Diamond is working on the consortium with Ashish Thakkar, whose Mara conglomerate also backed the creation of Atlas Mara. | Diamond is working on the consortium with Ashish Thakkar, whose Mara conglomerate also backed the creation of Atlas Mara. |