Latest Middle East bank move generates roles for elite firms
Clifford Chance (CC), Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Shearman & Sterling have taken the lead roles on the high-profile sale of a stake in Barclays.
Abu Dhabi-based company International Petroleum Investment Corporation (Ipic) sold the 11% stake only eight months after investing in the UK bank. Press reports estimated Ipic’s profits on the sale at around £1.4bn.
CC advised longstanding client Barclays with corporate partner Guy Norman leading the team. Credit Suisse, which carried out the share placement, instructed Freshfields with a team understood to be overseen by corporate partner Sarah Murphy.
Shearman is advising Ipic with a team headed up by London-based M&A partner Laurence Levy.
The original £7.3bn fundraising in October last year saw Barclays turn to the Middle East ensuring that the bank avoided having to be bailed out by the UK Government. The other major investor alongside Ipic was Qatar Holdings, which invested around £2bn.
The mandate comes after a string of cash-strapped banks have sought capital injections from foreign investors.
