Barclays Plc is close to selling a stake in its payments business to Brookfield Asset Management, according to people familiar with the matter.
An announcement could come as soon as this week, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. Brookfield could initially buy a minority holding with an option to raise its stake depending on business performance within a window of three to seven years after the deal goes through, the people said.
While deliberations are at an advanced stage, no final agreements have been reached and could still be delayed, the people said. A representative for Brookfield declined to comment.
“We are exploring a number of options for investment in our market-leading merchant acquiring business, including strategic partnerships,” a spokesperson for Barclays said in an emailed statement. “We will provide any further updates in due course.”
A deal would see Barclays following the footsteps of many of its European rivals in trimming their stakes or even exiting these businesses that handle electronic payments. Similar assets have been sold to other payment companies or private equity firms that can merge them into bigger platforms.
Under Chief Executive Officer C.S. Venkatakrishnan, Barclays has pledged to invest more in its UK business as well as its U.S. consumer offerings in order to buoy returns that have long lagged rivals. To pull that off, it’s been shedding non-core businesses.
Barclays completed a disposal of its German consumer finance division in February and has in recent months agreed to sell a portfolio of non-performing Italian mortgages. Its merchant acquiring business help enterprises take payments through physical payment terminals and digital wallets.
On the other hand, the British lender is deepening its roots at home including an acquisition of most of Tesco Plc’s banking business last year.
Brookfield has been seeking to further expand in financial infrastructure after its £2.2 billion (US$2.9 billion) purchase of Middle Eastern payments processor Network International Holdings Plc in 2024.
In 2023, the asset manager hired former Worldpay Inc. Chief Executive Officer Ron Kalifa as vice chair and head of financial infrastructure investments to beef up its presence in the sector.
Pamela Barbaglia and Dinesh Nair, Bloomberg News
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