| Mon 23 May 2005, 11:15 | | Absa stock not bought for us, says Barclays |
|
Absa stock not bought for us, says Barclays
Stephen Gunnion
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-Mail article Print-Friendly
Financial Services Editor
RECENT purchases of Absa shares by Barclays were undertaken on behalf of clients and not for its own portfolio, the UK bank says.
Barclays has bought 334332 shares over the past two weeks, at between R81,75 and R82,50, for about R27m.
Barclays spokeswoman Elizabeth Hooper said on Friday that the trades in Absa shares were in no way linked to the UK bank’s bid to obtain a majority stake in Absa. However, some analysts said they believed Barclays would still have to resort to buying shares on the open market if it is to succeed in its R33bn bid for Absa.
Absa shareholders meet next month to decide on an offer for their shares as part of the UK bank’s plan.
At the time of the offer, Barclays said it had the support of 63% of shareholders. At the scheme meeting, 75% of shareholders had to vote in favour for the deal to go ahead.
Chris Steward, portfolio manager at Investec Asset Management, said it made sense for Barclays to buy Absa stock on the open market at R82,50 as it would benefit from the R2 dividend Absa plans to pay shareholders for the 2005 financial year. However, he said Barclays would not be able to pay more than R82,50 a share as due to Securities Regulation Panel regulations this would mean it would have to lift its offer to all minority shareholders to the highest price paid for shares on the open market.
Under the scheme of arrangement proposed by Barclays, minority shareholders would be asked to sell 32% of their Absa stock to Barclays at R82,50.
In a second phase to the deal, a voluntary top-up offer, minorities would be asked to sell a further 28% or more of their shares to enable Barclays to achieve the 60% stake it ultimately wants to buy in Absa.
Barclays will need at least 56,2% to retain a majority stake in Absa once the Batho Bonke consortium, Absa’s empowerment partner, exercised its option to buy a 10% stake in the bank.
Sanlam and Remgro have already said they are willing to sell their entire holdings in Absa. If other minorities did not tender additional stock under the voluntary offer, Steward said, Barclays would be left with about 51,2%, which would mean it would have to buy shares on the open market.
Some institutional shareholders have already indicated they will not tender more than the 32% of their shares required under the scheme of arrangement as they want to benefit from the planned synergies should the deal go ahead.
The scheme meeting will be held on June 13 and if shareholders and the high court give the go-ahead, Barclays expects to take control of Absa by July 13.
