Credit Agricole, BAWAG poised to bid for Barclays German unit - sources

BAWAG AG

03/11/2023 15:32

By Emma-Victoria Farr, Amy-Jo Crowley and Pablo Mayo
Cerqueiro
       FRANKFURT, Nov 3 (Reuters) - French bank Credit Agricole
 CAGR.PA  and Austria's BAWAG Group  BAWG.VI  are set to submit
binding bids for Barclays'  BARC.L  German consumer finance unit
this week, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
    The banks are vying for the German business alongside
private equity firm bidders Warburg Pincus and Centerbridge in
the second stage of the process, the people said, speaking on
condition of anonymity.
    Binding bids are due this week with final bidder selection
later this month, the sources said. The hope is to sign a deal
this year, one of the sources said, while cautioning that the
timeline could slip.
    Barclays, Credit Agricole, BAWAG and Warburg Pincus declined
to comment. Centerbridge did not immediately return requests for
comment. 
    Barclays has for years been cutting back its retail
businesses in Europe and the German unit is one of the last
remaining assets following exits from Italy and France. 
    This sale was prompted by a shift to more conservative
spending habits in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.  
    The consumer finance arm, formerly known as Barclaycard, has
around 700 employees and started operating in Germany in 1991. 
    The unit, which started preparing for a sale earlier this
year, offers flexible lending loans and also payment cards to
around 2.5 million clients.
    The Hamburg-based Barclays unit reported a loan book, or
assets, of 4 billion pounds ($4.89 billion) at the end of June.
    Bidders need to have an existing banking license to go ahead
with the transaction, Reuters reported earlier this year. 
    The sale in Germany is separate to Barclays payments review,
which involves exploring the sale of a stake in the unit that
processes payments for UK merchants.

($1 = 0.8187 pounds)

 (Reporting by Emma-Victoria Farr, Amy-Jo Crowley and Pablo Mayo
Cerqueiro;
Additional reporting by Mathieu Rosemain; 
editing by Anousha Sakoui and David Evans)
 ((emma-victoria.farr@thomsonreuters.com;))