Africa’s biggest pen
sion fund, Public Investment Corporation, has sought approval from South Africa’s central bank to raise its stake in Barclays Africa, two sources said.
Barclays Africa’s parent, Barclays Plc, wants to reduce its holding to below 20 per cent, which would make it an equity investment rather than a subsidiary.
The plan is part of a broader sale by the British bank of its African assets as it shifts to focus on the United States and Britain.
Public Investment Corporation (PIC), the second-biggest shareholder in Barclays Africa with a holding of about seven per cent, could buy at least an additional 31 per cent stake, the sources indicated.
They would not elaborate on the exact stake size or the timing or logistics of the purchase.
Under South African regulations, PIC requires the Central Bank’s approval to raise its stake in Barclays Africa.
“PIC has always looked at Barclays Plc’s retreat as an opportunity to create a black-owned bank, but there aren’t many people with deep pockets to make that happen,” one of the sources said.
“But PIC on its own can buy to a level where Barclays will be able to deconsolidate it and has approached the Reserve Bank for ways to go about it.”
Barclays Plc trimmed its interest in its African unit to 50 per cent, from 62 per cent, in May.
The British bank wants to reduce its holding in the African unit to an equity investment because under its current ownership it has to fully allocate capital to the business but gets less than two-thirds of its profits.