Al Habtoor Plans to Raise Barclays Stake to 2.5%

Al Habtoor Group LLC, an owner of hotels in Dubai and Beirut, plans to increase its holding in Barclays Plc to as much as 2.5 percent on a bet that U.K. banks will bring better returns than real estate, its chairman said.

“We have a good stake in the bank and we intend to raise it” to “about 2 percent or 2.5 percent,” Khalaf Al Habtoor said in a phone interview from London late yesterday. “The price is very attractive” and “we have confidence in the bank’s strength and the U.K.’s regulatory system,” he said.

Al Habtoor has set aside as much as $400 million for investments and acquisitions this year and may borrow to add to the amount, Al Habtoor said. The Dubai-based company currently owns 1.4 percent of Barclays, the U.K.’s third-largest bank. The shares closed at 259.05 pence valuing a 1.1 percent stake at 239 million pounds ($394 million) on June 23. Barclays shares jumped 2.5 percent 265.6 pence at 9:19 a.m. in London.