Qatar dumping shares in key UK bank – Bloomberg
Barclays’ second biggest shareholder reportedly plans to get rid of half of its stake in major lender
Qatar Holding, owned by the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), is looking to sell some £510 million ($644 million) worth of its shares in Barclays, one of the UK’s oldest banks, according to terms of the offering, seen by Bloomberg.
The transaction is expected to cut QIA’s ownership of Barclays in half, reducing it from a 5% stake to about 2.4%.
The Gulf State has been an anchor investor in Barclays since 2008, when it helped the bank, the UK’s second largest lender, to avoid a government bailout with an injection of £4 billion (over $5 billion).
The QIA is currently ranked Barclays’ second-biggest shareholder, according to data tracked by the news agency.
The sale comes as the lender is striving to revive its share price, down over 80% since the 2008 financial crisis. Earlier this month, major media outlets reported that Barclays was working on plans to save around £1 billion (over $1.25 billion) by dropping thousands of clients at its investment division and cutting some 2,000 jobs.
READ MORE: UK banking giant axing staff before Christmas – union
The bank is also selling its consumer finance unit in Germany and considering selling a stake in its domestic merchant services business.
Barclays’ shares are down over 12% this year, and are trading close to their lowest levels since the coronavirus pandemic. Its valuation is currently ranked among the cheapest among global banking majors.
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