Börse Express – BAWAG is the best bidder for the German credit card business Barclays / according to informed sources

According to informed sources, Austrian financial institution BAWAG is the lead bidder for British bank Barclays’ German credit card business. Three people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The Vienna-based bank is competing in the bidding process with major French bank Credit Agricole and financial investors Warburg Pincus and Centrebridge. The value of the offers amounts to approximately 500 million euros.

According to informed sources, the talks have reached an advanced stage. However, it is not certain that it will lead to results. If talks with BAWAG fail, another bidder may win the contract. Barclays, Boage, Credit Agricole and Warburg Pincus declined to comment.

The British bank’s main division, which is headquartered in Hamburg, employs around 700 staff and has been operating in Germany since 1991 and has around 2.5 million customers. It sells credit cards to private clients and is active in the installment loans business, working with mail order company Amazon, among others. Barclays, which has reduced its retail business in Europe, hopes to raise about half a billion euros from the sale, according to previous information.

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 ISIN  AT0000BAWAG2  GB0031348658
 WEB   http://www.bawagpsk.com
       http://group.barclays.com/home

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