Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Gulf Funds Eye U.K. Banks as Rules Tighten, Staveley Says

Investment firm PCP Capital Partners LLP and the Gulf investors it works with are interested in the U.K.’s banking industry despite stricter rules imposed since the financial crisis, said Chief Executive Officer Amanda Staveley.


“I’m always interested in the U.K. banking industry even as it becomes more regulated,” said Staveley, who helped Abu Dhabi invest 3 billion pounds ($4.6 billion ) in Barclays Plc (BARC) in 2008.

“Once everything picks up, retail banking will start to become interesting again. You could see more investors looking at it.”

Staveley, seen as a broker for the Persian Gulf region’s sovereign wealth funds, said any investment in the U.K.’s banking industry would be adapted to the times.

“The U.K. regulatory market has changed, so the style of investment will be different to the Barclays one we did in 2008.”

The market backdrop to the Barclays investment was very different from when Staveley and investors looked at Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (RBS) a little later, she said in an interview.

Staveley said PCP Capital and Gulf investors are also interested in investing in Russian banks, without giving further details.

bloomberg.com

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