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Barclays is hiving off more of its lucrative Africa banking assets - but not to Bob Diamond, yet

May 4, 2016, 21:37 IST

Jes Staley speaks during a panel discussion at the Institute of International Finance (IIF) annual meeting in Washington September 25, 2011.Reuters

Barclays just confirmed that it plans to spin off its lucrative Africa banking unit.

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In a statement released just before the markets closedon Wednesday, Barclays said it plans to "divest part of its 62% shareholding in Barclays Africa over the next two to three years."

Barclays will do this by selling 103.6 million shares in Barclays Africa Group, with up to 10.3 million shares going to the South African state pension fund Public Investment Corporation.

It is unclear whether any of the unit will be sold to former Barclay's CEO Bob Diamond's new venture, Atlas Mara, which confirmed at the end of April that it is "exploring an acquisition" of Barclays' stake in the African unit.

The Barclays Africa unit is worth around 122 billion South African rand (£5.9 billion; $8.5 billion) in market cap. It is by far one of Barclays' most profitable assets - returns from Barclays' Africa unit far outstrip those of the investment bank.

At the end of April, the company founded and run by Diamond confirmed that it is in talks with Barclays about buying some of the bank's assets in Africa.

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