Thursday 20 August 2009

Habtoor eyes stakes in UK banks

Dubai-based Al Habtoor Group, a stakeholder in Barclays, has up to $1.3 billion (Dh4.77 billion) to invest in British banks and hotels in Europe, its chairman said yesterday. The company, one of the United Arab Emirates' largest family businesses, was one of several Middle East investors that bought into Barclays in 2008 as the lender looked to boost its capital to weather the financial crisis.

"If there is opportunity in a good English bank share, we are also ready to study it and to buy some shares," Khalaf Al Habtoor said.

UK banks were an attractive option due to the "transparency of English law" which left "no grey areas", Habtoor said. "We are not speculative buyers."END

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