Barclays sells off half of Absa stake for £526m
Barclays announced today it has sold off a major chunk of its remaining stake in South African banking group Absa for £526m as it continues to shed its holdings in the firm.
The UK lender said it will sell 7.4 per cent of its shares in the firm, half its remaining 15 per cent stake, at a 7.3 per cent discount to the firm’s closing price on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on Wednesday.
Bosses at Barclays said the firm will now channel the funding into the “general corporate purposes of the group”.
Barclays has been offloading its holding in the firm since 2017, when it sold off a controlling stake in what was then known as Barclays Africa Group.
Shares in Absa, one of South Africa’s largest banks and financial services providers, plunged over six per cent this morning on the announcement while Barclays climbed over 0.6 per cent.
The placing was made through Barclays Principal Investments subsidiary, with Absa, Citigroup, Banco Santander and Société Générale arranging the sale.
The move sees Barclays chip away another chunk of an investment it has held since 2005 when it snapped up a 56.4 per cent stake in the firm.
Absa has a majority shareholding in a sprawling network of banks in 11 countries across Africa as well as insurance operations in Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia.