ALBAWABA – Qatar Holding LLC, a company owned by the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), is selling half a billion dollars’ worth of its shares in Barclays Plc, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
Qatar Holding is selling 361.7 billion shares in the British firm, worth around $644 million.
In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, Qatar Holding invested just over $5 billion and became one of its largest backers and shareholders.
By the end of 2022, the company held a 5 percent stake in Barclays, according to a US regulatory filing in January, as reported by Bloomberg.
An expedited book building on Monday, according to the New York-based news agency, reflects around 45 percent of Qatar Holding’s position.
“The timing is slightly odd,” Adam Terelak, an analyst at Mediobanca, told Bloomberg, as Barclays prepares for a major overhaul in 2024.
“It’s hardly a ringing endorsement,” Terelak said.
Qatar Holding to sell half a billion worth of Barclays shares - Shutterstock
Notably, Barclays’s shares have fallen by a tenth this year, underperforming many of its peers, as the firm works on boosting profits.
The shares are expected to price at 141 pence, according to Bloomberg, representing a 1.4 percent discount to Monday’s close. The offering represents about 2.4 percent of Barclays’s outstanding shares, according to the terms.
In the UK, the tailwind from higher interest rates is slowing while Barclays’ traders and investment bankers have struggled to keep pace with US peers.
The group comprises one of the UK’s largest retail banks and is an international credit card business and a global investment bank.
However, Bloomberg reported investors have been wary of its capital markets ambitions as it trades at a paltry price-to-book ratio of 0.39, lagging rivals.
While Qatar’s 2008 intervention helped the bank avoid a government bailout, the emergency fundraising has been a legal headache ever since.
Last year, Bloomberg reported the Financial Conduct Authority as saying it planned to fine Barclays £50 million for failing to disclose an agreement to pay advisory fees to Qatari investment vehicles from 2008. The bank said it plans to challenge the regulator’s proposal and former executives at Barclays were cleared of fraud in connection with the transactions back in 2020.
