The fund co-founded by Bob Diamond has told investors that it is in the final stages of buying a third African banking business that would expand its interests into Nigeria.
Atlas Mara, the London-listed acquisition vehicle set up by Mr Diamond, the former chief executive of Barclays, and Ashish Thakkar, a Ugandan billionaire, said yesterday that it had extended an option agreement to buy a stake in an unidentified Nigerian financial services company.
In a statement to the market, Atlas Mara, which was re-listed in the UK only last month, said that it would “review” a decision on buying the holding and would have to reach a final decision on the acquisition by Sunday.
According to a prospectus published by the company last month on