Barclays announces 95 per cent uptake of cash call

4th Oct 2013 09:26

Barclays said there has been a 95 per cent uptake of its 5.8bn-pound cash call on Friday.The cash call was made in the form of a rights issue allowing existing shareholders to buy shares at a discount.Underwriters Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, BofA Merrill Lynch and Citi will now begin to sell the remaining 173m shares on the market. The shares are worth about £400m. Banks underwriting the cash call will receive fees of £130m.Any premium over the aggregate of the issue price of 185p per new ordinary share and the expenses of procuring subscribers will be paid to shareholders.Existing shareholders were allowed to buy discounted shares first.Barclays is raising £5.8bn in a rights issue to help plug a capital shortfall identified by UK regulators. The rights issue is the biggest by a British bank since 2009. It will raise funds equivalent to 15% of Barclays' market value. It comes as the bank works to rebuild its image following a series of scandals including LIBOR rigging.Shares rose 0.02% to 273.05p at 10:05 on Friday.RD