Qatar Sells Barclays Warrants, Maintains 6.7% Stake

Posted on 11/26/2012

Qatar Holding LLC formally made plans to sell Barclays Plc shares as the sovereign wealth enterprise (SWE) of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) rids itself of their remaining warrants. 379 million units of Barclays warrants have been monetized by Qatar Holding LLC. The SWE remains the largest shareholder of Barclays Plc with a 6.65% stake.

Since October 2008, after Barclays’ announced plan to raise £7 billion of capital, shares of Barclays Plc climbed around 42%. This capital came from Gulf investors from Abu Dhabi and Qatar. At the time, the UK Financial Services Authority increased capital targets for all UK banks. Barclays wanted to avoid a United Kingdom government bailout and wanted to remain independent. Barclays Plc did not want government meddling in their operations as the UK government would most likely influence the strategic direction of the bank. Later that year in 2009, Qatar Holding sold a £1.4 billion stake in Barclays after warrant conversions.

On November 25, 2012 in a separate statement, “We remain a supportive strategic investor in Barclays, and maintain our confidence in the long-term prospects for the business,” Qatar Holding Chief Executive Officer Ahmad Al-Sayed said.

Keywords: Barclays plc.

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