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Abu Dhabi. — Reports that Dubai private equity firm Abraaj was putting together a consortium to bid for up to 35 percent of Barclays Africa’s shares did not excite markets, with observers holding out for an announcement of firm discussions from the bank or its parent. The Abraaj-led consortium would compete with a similar consortium led by former Barclays plc CEO Bob Diamond and the Mara Group’s Ashish Thakkar, which wants to buy out the British bank’sremaining shares after it sold 12,2 percent two weeks ago.

Citing sources that it did not name, Bloomberg reported on Sunday that the firm was consulting financial advisers and was in discussions with various investors including a Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund, to buy the stake from Barclays plc. Abraaj did not respond to requests for comment.

The private equity firm has just three companies listed in its financial services portfolio including a home-loan originator in Ghana.

The most likely sovereign wealth fund, the Investment Corporation of Dubai, did not respond to requests for comment. It has a large financial services portfolio including the United Arab Emirates’ largest bank, Emirates NBD, and HSBC Middle East Finance Company.

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, another fund, said it was “not connected with Abraaj”.

Spokesman Erik Portanger said: “We are not involved in this.”

An analyst said the emergence of Abraaj as an interested party would not make a difference to the process, as everything was speculative as this stage.

“It is not unusual that more than one bidder could be interested in Barclays Africa,” said Jean Pierre Verster, an independent analyst.

Confirmation of discussions from Barclays Africa itself would stem speculation, he said. — BDLive.