Banking | - Part 88

Barclays Rejected Zimbabwe Management-Buyout Bid in Favor of FMB

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – An offer for Barclays Plc’s Zimbabwe unit by its management and backed by funds from the country’s social security agency lost out to Malawi’s First Merchant Bank Ltd. It’s a “shame” that Barclays Bank of Zimbabwe Ltd. didn’t stay with local investors, National Social Security Authority Chairman Robin Vela said by phone from the capital, Harare, on Monday, confirming that the agency was willing to fund the deal. “Barclays…

Barclays Africa Purchase Said to Spur PIC Into Selling Sappi

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Public Investment Corp. sold a stake in Sappi Ltd., the world’s biggest maker of dissolving wood pulp, to help fund its purchase of shares in Barclays Africa Group Ltd., according to a person familiar with the matter. Africa’s biggest money manager has also sold shares in other companies to help it finance the Barclays Africa stake acquisition, said the person, who asked not to be named because the transactions are still confidential….

Barclays Sells Zimbabwe Bank to Malawi’s First Merchant

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Barclays has announced the sale of its Zimbabwe bank to Malawi-listed First Merchant Bank on Friday as the British lender continues its exit from Africa. In March Barclays announced it was in talks on the sale of its stake in Barclays Bank of Zimbabwe as part of a broader exit from Africa to refocus on the United States and Britain. Barclays said the deal would remove 292 million pounds ($375.69 million)…

Barclays Reaches Target on Africa Stake as It Boosts Sale

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Barclays Plc reached a long-term target for shrinking its stake in its African unit earlier than expected as the bank boosted the size of a share sale by more than 50 percent. The London-based lender is selling 285.7 million shares of Barclays Africa Group Ltd., equal to a 33.7 percent stake, at 132 rand each, it said in a statement on Thursday. The bank previously planned to sell a 22 percent stake…

Barclays Shares Surge After Report Suggests Africa Group Sale Imminent

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Barclays plc shares rose to the near top of the FTSE 100 Wednesday after a report from Sky News suggested the bank will announce the sale of a substantial stake in its troubled African division. The deal could raise around £1.6 billion ($2 billion) for the British lender while reducing its stake in the Johannesburg listed Barclays Africa Group from 51% to around 28%, Sky reported. Barclays stock rose…

Mauritian Banks Seen as Haven as Politics And Oil Roil Peers

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PORT LOUIS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Mauritian banks are becoming beacons of growth and stability in sub-Saharan Africa. Unscathed by the vagaries of the oil price and unhindered by the political battles that have roiled some of their continental peers, the Indian Ocean island’s lenders have been bolstered by an economy growing faster than many of the mainland countries. The central bank expects the Mauritian economy to expand as much as 4 percent this year, compared with…

Kenyan Central Bank Says Lenders Face New Era of Smaller Profits

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenyan lenders must adjust their business models to adapt to a new era of lower profits as interest-rate caps curb investor returns, Central Bank of Kenya Governor Patrick Njoroge said. Return on equity in the Kenyan banking industry declined to 13.6 percent in March from 18.2 percent in June, Njoroge told reporters Tuesday in the capital, Nairobi. For the country’s biggest lenders, the drop was more severe, slumping to 23 percent…

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