by Amy-Jo Crowley, Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro and Milana Vinn
LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Barclays is considering selling part of its stake in its UK merchant payments business as the group seeks partners to expand the business, four people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The British bank wants to be backed by a partner with the strategic “know-how” to develop this activity, as well as to raise funds, but has not yet decided on the amount of the stake it plans to sell, have clarified the sources.
This division could be valued at at least two billion pounds (2.3 billion euros), based in particular on an earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) estimated at around 300 million pounds, has indicated one of the sources.
The talks are currently at a preliminary stage and are part of a strategic review of the group’s payments business globally, the sources said.
Barclays canvassed potential candidates, mostly specialist payments providers, for its plan over the summer, two of the sources said, adding that the plan may still be modified or even dropped.
Asked for comment, a Barclays spokesperson said: “We do not comment on speculation. Our business continues to perform well and growing our payments business globally is a priority for us.”
On the London Stock Exchange, the action took 1.28% against a gain of 0.35% for the FTSE index.
(Report by Amy-Jo Crowley and Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro in London, with Milana Vinn in New York and the contribution of Lawrence White, Claude Chendjou, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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