Sheik's stake in Barclays sold
Sheik Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan of Abu Dhabi sold his shares in Barclays. In a regulatory filing last month, the bank said that the Sheik's investment vehicle, PCP Gulf Invest 3, sold its 758.4 million shares by June 20. During that day, Barclays' shares closed at 288.10 pence. This would value the sold stake at GBP2.2 billion.
During a financial crisis, Sheik Mansour led a group of Middle Eastern investors including sovereign wealth funds of Qatar and Abu Dhabi to invest GBP7.3 billion (US$11 million) in the bank. The shares were bought at a 23% discount. This also came with warrants which could be converted to shares.
Some investors criticized the deal though. They said that those shares should have been offered to existing shareholders first. In this way, they could participate in a capital increase.
Barclays was under pressure strengthen its capital ratios in 2008. Since the investment in October that year, the bank's shares gained more than 60%. The Sheik held the shares for more than four years prior to the sale last month.
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