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Former Barclays chief eyes deal to fund investment division.

 

Bob Diamond resurrected his career after being forced out of Barclays during the Libor-rigging scandal in 2012 by setting up Atlas Merchant Capital. That move is part of a desperate effort by Switzerland’s second-largest bank to survive a crisis sparked by regulatory scandals and mounting losses. Sources said AMC is in the early stages of looking at providing capital and operational expertise to CS First Boston, which will be based in New York and run by Michael Klein, who is regarded as one of the top dealmakers of his generation. While Diamond and Klein are not yet in direct talks, the two know each other well.

Klein set up an advisory boutique in the run-up to the financial crisis and advised Diamond when Barclays acquired the Wall Street arm of Lehman Brothers after its collapse in 2008. The bank’s chairman, Axel Lehmann, was in London last week and told the Financial Times banking conference that it had received a commitment of $500 million to capitalise CS First Boston, though he did not name the backers. AMC is not the $500 million investment to which Lehmann referred. Still, sources say it has the firepower to commit a significant amount in conjunction with co-investors and that any investment is likely to be substantial. In 2018, AMC was part of a consortium of investors that provided $1 billion to acquire Talcott, an American insurance run-off business.

AMC adopts a hands-on approach to management and brings operational expertise, with a cadre of Diamond’s former colleagues working as operating partners or running individual businesses. They include Rich Ricci, chief executive of Panmure Gordon, a horseracing fanatic who ran the trading business at Barclays under Diamond. Global Capital first reported AMC’s plan.

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  1. Anonymous4 December 2022 at 12:05


    It's impressive to see Bob Diamond resurrect his career like this. It remains to be see how he does in the future. Credit Suisse Group will make it, I think. They are trying their best to keep themselves from going under and with a little help they will succeed.

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