Has Barclays Bank Hit Rock Bottom?
After many days of speculation it has been announced that the £4.5 billion Barclays Bank fund raising is going ahead with the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) leading the way with a £1.7 billion investment in exchange for a 7.7% stake in the business. It has also been declared that a new investment vehicle set-up by the Prime Minister of Qatar will invest a further £533 million for an additional 2.3% stake in the leading UK bank.
While the market is still very much in turmoil with regard to the cost of borrowing in the money markets, the Qatar investment in particular has caught the eye of many UK based investors. Perhaps many UK investors have been a little too close to the action to see the long term value? Perhaps the overseas investors have been a little too keen to jump into the market?
Whatever the situation the successful fund raising seems to have secured the short term capital adequacy position of the leading UK bank, but has it also put Barclays Bank in play?
The existence of a number of sizeable stakes in the bank has led some to believe that the bank may well become a takeover target in the not too distant future. When the dust has settled and the UK economy is back on steady ground, how might the situation develop?
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