Barclays sells private equity arm
HIGH street lender Barclays has concluded the sale of its private equity division to its management team.
The bank announced that the business will be renamed Equistone Partners Europe. It said the value of the gross assets disposed of is expected to be around £45m .
The newly-independent Equistone venture has 45 members of staff operating from three UK offices, as well as bases in Paris, Munich, Zurich and Milan. It will continue to manage three funds on behalf of existing investors, including Barclays, which remains the largest single investor in the funds.
The firm’s Manchester office is headed by Steve O’Hare following longstanding office head John Walker’s recent relocation to London.
The deal has been in negotiations for more than two years. In the wake of the banking crisis of 2008, government ministers including chancellor George Osborne had argued that retail banks should hive off riskier activities such as private equity and investment banking.
