By Sean Farrell and Marius Bosch, Reuters
Britain’s Barclays agreed a $5.5 billion deal for control of lender Absa on Monday, marking its return to South African retail banking and the biggest direct foreign investment in the country.
The UK bank’s long-awaited announcement is a major vote of confidence in the South African economy more than a decade after the demise of the apartheid regime and 19 years after Barclays’ forced exit from the country.
Britain’s third-biggest bank will pay 33 billion rand ($5.5 billion) in cash for 60 percent of Absa, South Africa’s biggest retail lender, to boost its non-UK profits.
For this complete story, please visit Barclays Returns to South Africa in $5.5 billion Deal.
