Barclays In Talks About Combining Africa Ops With Absa

Barclays is in talks about combining the majority of its African operations with its subsidiary Absa Group, it said on Tuesday.

The British bank said it was considering combining its interests in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and the Indian Ocean with Absa, with Barclays remaining as the majority shareholder of the combined African operations.

Barclays said there was no certainty that the talks would lead to a combination and that the proposed combination would not be expected to be completed until 2013.

“This proposed combination of the majority of the Barclays Africa businesses with Absa is the next logical step in delivering our ‘One Africa’ strategy, which Barclays announced last year,” Maria Ramos, the chief executive of Absa Group and Barclays Africa, said in a statement.

Reuters