British bank group, Barclays, has put its remaining shares on sale in ABSA to the value of R10.7 billion as the group exits the African continent.
Barclays has been trading in the African continent for 90 years and has sold its 7.4% stake in ABSA (Amalgamated Banks of South Africa) as they finalise their departure which nearly lasted a century.
The banking company fetched R169 per share in an accelerated bookbuild announced on Wednesday and on Thursday, ABSA’s share price was 1.72 percent higher at R174.96.
Independent Media Online reports that the British bank confirmed that it would sell ABSA in 2016, as part of its strategy revamp to focus more on the United States of America and Britain.
Following its announcement in 2016, the company has steadily reduced its stake in one of South Africa’s major banks, ABSA, in recent years.
“In April, it had sold another 7.4 percent for £526m (about R10.48bn currently). It sold off much of its controlling stake in the group – then called the Barclays Africa Group – in May 2016 and June 2017,” reports IOL.
“Barclays continues to have a representative office in Johannesburg, which is able to support investment, private and corporate banking clients.
“In 2020, the private bank was granted a licence in South Africa to offer offshore services to clients located in South Africa.”
ABSA is one of the continent’s largest financial services providers and celebrated the substantial completion of its separation programme from Barclays in 2020 – three years after the start.
During that stage, the bank lebelled the much publicised separation as one of the largest and most complex corporate programmes of its kind, as per the IOL report.
Meanwhile, the British banking group became the majority shareholder at ABSA back in 2005 and the two groups integrated their systems, processes, and policies over time.
However, ABSA’s 2021 annual report, revealed that the divorce still resulted in an R766m cut to the bank’s earnings, while in the 2020 financial year, this cost reached R1.93bn.
It is reported that the costs emanated from rebranding for the separation which involved more than 1 000 branches, 10 000 ATMs, close to 16 000 email addresses, several million customer cards, as well as thousands of uniforms, signage, forms, buildings, and stationery.
Main Image: Barclays Bank/Radarr Africa
