Bob Diamond, the former chief executive of Barclays, is staging a City comeback after agreeing to buy one of London’s oldest stockbroking firms. Diamond’s buyout vehicle, Atlas Merchant Capital, has teamed up with QInvest to acquire Panmure Gordon. Panmure directors unanimously recommended the offer of £1 per share, which values the company at £15.5m. Before he founded Atlas Merchant Capital, Diamond co-founded Atlas Mara, a London-listed investment vehicle focused on buying financial services businesses in Africa. Last month Atlas Merchant Capital announced its first European investment, teaming up with the ex-chief executive of Greek bank Piraeus to buy the Athens-based consumer finance arm of France’s Crédit Agricole.

Source: The Guardian March 17, 2017 08:15 UTC