Bob Diamond's Atlas Mara Holds Barclays Africa Talks -- Update
April 26 2016 - 04:01AM
Dow Jones News
By Ian Walker
LONDON--Bob Diamond's Atlas Mara Ltd. on Tuesday said it had
held talks with a consortium of investors exploring a bid for
Barclays PLC's stake in Barclays Africa about a potential
combination of the two businesses.
Atlas Mara said the consortium includes Atlas Merchant Capital,
an investment vehicle founded by Mr. Diamond, Barclays's former
chief executive, and the Mara Group, founded by Ashish J.
Thakkar.
Messrs Diamond and Thakkar both serve on the Atlas Mara board
and won't be part of any potential talks at Atlas Mara about a
possible merger.
Given the significant complexity and early stage of the
discussions with the consortium, there can be no assurance a deal
will be done, Atlas Mara said.
Atlas Mara's announcement comes just days after it emerged that
Mr. Diamond's Atlas Merchant Capital has teamed up with U.S. buyout
firm Carlyle Group to put together a bid for Barclays Africa.
Barclays owns 62.3% of Barclays Africa and last month announced
it would seek to sell down most of that for regulatory reasons.
Barclays Africa owns 12 banks across Africa, the biggest of
which by far is South Africa-based Absa, one of the country's
largest lenders.
Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 26, 2016 03:46 ET (07:46 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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