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Barclays bows to shareholder pressure

Barclays PLC bowed to shareholder protests on Tuesday, saying it will let existing stockholders in on a share issue originally earmarked for private Middle Eastern investors.

  • AP
  • Published: 23:40 November 18, 2008
  • Gulf News

London: Barclays PLC bowed to shareholder protests on Tuesday, saying it will let existing stockholders in on a share issue originally earmarked for private Middle Eastern investors.

Barclays said the three Middle Eastern investors - Qatar Investment Authority, the Challenger investment vehicle led by the Qatari royal family, and Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Presidential Affairs - had offered to allow existing shareholders to purchase £500 million (Dh3.35 billion) worth of their combined £5.8 billion proposed investments.

"The board of Barclays has listened carefully to shareholders' views," the bank said in a statement announcing the change.

Barclays also said that no bonuses will be paid to board members this year, and that all members of the board would offer themselves for re-election at the bank's annual general meeting in April.

Over the past week there had been growing evidence that current shareholders could vote against the proposed Middle Eastern investment when it is put up for their approval on Monday.

Barclays management agreed to take investments from the Middle East last month rather than participate in the government's recapitalisation plan, which was taken up by rivals Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, Lloyds TSB Group PLC and HBOS PLC.

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