Barclays Increases its shares, as sales hit to 34% in stake

Barclays plc sold a 33.7% stake in Barclays Africa overnight, after it increased the shares it made available due to strong demand.

On Wednesday Barclays surprised the market by announcing it would sell 22% of Barclays Africa - more than the market had expected, and taking its long-term target shareholding to about 15%.

The sale of nearly 34% takes its stake to just over 16% and, with 1.5% of the shares reserved for Barclays Africa's upcoming empowerment scheme, that means Barclays plc has reached its 15% target, removing the overhang on its subsidiary's share price.

The British bank had previously said it was selling its stake in its African subsidiary in response to regulatory and accounting requirements, which meant a shareholding of about 20% in Barclays Africa.

But in announcing its second overnight book-build process on Wednesday to offload 22% of its shares in Barclays Africa to institutional investors, such as pension funds and asset managers, with the results expected on Thursday, it said the target would be much lower than that.

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