Barclays nears deal to offload UK payments business to Brookfield - report

(Sharecast News) - Barclays is reportedly closing in on a £650m deal to offload control of its UK payments business to the Canadian investment giant Brookfield Asset Management after months of negotiations. According to Sky News, the two companies are in the final stages of talks about a transaction that will initially see Brookfield acquiring 10% of the UK bank's merchant acquiring division.

Three years after the deal completes, Brookfield would then acquire a further 80% of the unit, leaving Barclays as a 10% shareholder.

Sources told Sky that unusually, the agreement being finalised would see Barclays injecting £400m into the payments division in order to fund investment in returning it to sustainable growth.

Barclays would also provide roughly £250m of regulatory capital required to secure approval for the deal, they added.

According to Sky, a deal could be announced as early as next week, although it is more likely to be publicly confirmed later this month.

Barclays announced in February 2024 that it was exploring a sale or partnership for the merchant acquiring division.