Barclays Africa says buyers keen for parent’s stake

Barclays Africa says there’s no lack of interest from buyers seeking a stake in SA’s third-largest lender.

Johannesburg - Barclays Africa Group said there was no lack of interest from buyers seeking a stake in South Africa’s third-largest lender as Barclays prepares to reduce its 62.3 percent holding to less than 20 percent.

The London-based bank’s interest would not be “sold in the short term and a number of players will have a say in the process”, Barclays Africa deputy chief executive David Hodnett said yesterday.

Read: Barclays' withdrawal 'is bad news for SA'

It was too soon to speculate on how the British bank would sell its shares, he said, adding that regulators would be looking for investors who offered “long-term stability”.

Barclays said on March 1 it planned to sell down its interest in the South African lender, formerly known as Absa, over the next two to three years to reduce demands on the capital it needed to set aside for controlling the company. Chief executive Jes Staley is moving more assets into its non-core unit and cutting the dividend for two years in an effort to shrink the bank and boost capital ratios.

Bob Diamond, the former Barclays chief executive, had not directly approached the African lender on buying shares, Hodnett said.

Room to grow

While the two companies would still operate a joint venture in investment banking, the African unit’s work with multinational corporations and its cash-equities business might be impacted by the parent’s withdrawal, he said.

The investment bank still had room to grow and Barclays Africa wanted to expand further in Nigeria, while searching for insurance assets in Ghana as part of its plan to become one of the biggest pan-African banks, Hodnett said.

The British bank bought the South African business in 2005 and in 2013 the Johannesburg-based unit acquired its parent’s operations in eight African countries. This gave Barclays Africa a presence in 12 countries on the continent and it now has more than 12 million customers.

Barclays Africa shares fell 2.05 percent to R138.01 at the close of the JSE yesterday.

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