Bob Diamond to float £150m fund in London for African banking business

Ex-Barclays boss Bob Diamond is planning to float a fund on the London Stock Exchange to raise $250m (£153m) for a new African banking venture.

The financial vehicle, called Atlas Mara, would debut on the stock exchange within two weeks.

African entrepreneur Ashish Thakkar, chief executive of Mara Group, a conglomerate with “technology, manufacturing, real estate and agriculture” interests in 19 African countries, is also reportedly coming on board.

Earlier this year, Diamond set up a merchant bank called Atlas Merchant Capital in New York.

He resigned from the British lender in July last year after the bank was fined £290m for attempting to manipulate Libor, the interbank lending rate, between 2005 and 2009.

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