Mar 17, 2017
Bob Diamond returns to London with Panmure bid
The former Barclays chief executive has returned to the City of London with something of a whimper, teaming up with a Qatari investment bank to acquire Panmure Gordon, a stockbroker with a famous name that has fallen on hard times. Mr Diamond has joined forces with QInvest, an investment bank in which members of Qatar's ruling family are significant shareholders, to launch a bid valuing the Aim-listed broker at £15.5m - far less than the ex-Barclays boss was often paid in a single year at his old bank. Mr Diamond first broached the idea of taking Panmure private to QInvest, which already owned 43 per cent of the broker, according to a person close to the Doha-based group. Mr Diamond is one of several of Barclays' former top brass to have been questioned by the SFO. Mr Diamond does not need approval from the UK securities regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, for the deal, as he is not going to be personally involved in the day-to-day management of Panmure nor sit on its board. Patric Johnson, Panmure's chief executive, says the idea "Is not Barclays 2.0, it is not Bob Diamond coming back in and saying he is going to be chief executive." Mr Johnson says he hopes that going private will allow the company to offer better incentives to staff under a partnership structure.
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