Diamond’s Atlas Mara to raise US$200m in revival plan, eyes Nigeria

Bob Diamond’s African investment vehicle Atlas Mara said it is raising US$200m from Fairfax Africa and existing shareholders to kick-start the bank after a tough three years since listing.

Atlas Mara, which has been buying up banking assets with the aim of becoming the leading bank in Africa, plans to sell US$100m of new shares to Fairfax Africa and existing investors, and sell US$100m of mandatory convertible bonds to Fairfax.

Fairfax Africa will invest at least US$130m and up to the full US$200m, which will give it a stake of between 35% and just below 50% in Atlas Mara.“With Fairfax, we are now better positioned to achieve our full potential and to benefit from the long-term trends we see in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa,” said Diamond, the former Barclays CEO who is executive chairman of Atlas Mara.