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Barclays PLC on Thursday said it sold a stake in Absa Group Ltd worth £526 million, halving its stake in its former unit.
Barclays, which at one point had over a 60% holding in the Johannesburg-listed financial services firm, sold 63.1 million Absa shares through an accelerated bookbuild. The shares sold amounted to a 7.4% Absa stake, leaving Barclays with the remaining 7.4%.
Shares were sold at R 164.0 each, a 7.3% discount to their R 177.0 closing price on Wednesday.
Absa shares were down 4.4% at R 169.30 each on Thursday morning, one of Johannesburg's worst blue-chip performers.
Barclays netted R 10.34 billion from the share sale, around £526 million.
The FTSE 100 listing said the deal will lift its CET1 ratio, as at December 31, by 10 basis points.
It added it will record a £43 million loss on sale through the income statement, but a £121 million gain recorded through 'other comprehensive income'.
The London-listed firm said its own investment bank acted as global co-ordinator and bookrunner. Citigroup Global Markets Ltd, Banco Santander SA, Societe Generale SA, as well as Absa's own corporate & investment banking division acted as co-bookrunners.
Barclays said it will use the proceeds for ‘general corporate purposes’.
Barclays formerly had a majority stake in Absa, formerly known as Barclays Africa Group Ltd, before selling much of it in 2017.
Barclays shares were 0.4% higher at 149.40 pence each in London on Thursday morning.
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