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Barclays PLC sells 33.9% more shareholdings in Barclays Africa
London based Barclays PLC on June 01 shed 33.7% more shareholdings in Barclays Africa Group to equity investors at South African Rand R37.7bn, further reducing its stake in the latter company.
The lender sold 285.7million Barclays Africa ordinary shares reducing its shareholding to 23.4%, with a further 7% to be taken up by the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) at a later date, subject to regulatory approvals.
“The completion of this transaction demonstrates an exceptionally healthy investor appetite for Barclays Africa and our strategy of becoming a leading standalone financial services group in Africa,” said Maria Ramos, chief executive officer, Barclays Africa Group.
She said independence from Barclays PLC will create several opportunities for Barclays Africa Group which will ultimately result in benefits from different stakeholders. She added that no job losses will be witnessed in the course of the transactions.
This is the second time that Barclays PLC is selling its stake in the Barclays Africa Group. Last year, the lender sold 103.6 million shares (representing 12%) in Barclays Africa to fund managers in South Africa and abroad. Barclays PLC announced on March o1 last year that it intended, over a two to three year period, to reduce its shareholding in Barclays Africa.
However, Barclays PLC will contribute the equivalent of 1.5% of Barclays Africa’s market capitalisation, equating to approximately R1.85 billion towards the establishment of a broad-based black economic empowerment scheme.
Listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, Barclays Bank has operations in 12 African countries including Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Tanzania.
Early last year, the British lender announced plans to sell its 62 % stake in Barclays Africa Group ending its presence on the continent after more than a century and becoming a transatlantic bank focused on the United States and Britain.
The Bank said it would then concentrate on two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays Corporate and International, to comply with ring-fencing regulations aimed at safeguarding its retail banking business from riskier operations.
