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British banking group Barclays has advised shareholders that it is in talks with Absa to merge the majority of its Africa operations with the South African subsidiary.
In a statement today, Barclays said this is expected to involve the combination of Barclays interests in six African countries including the Indian Ocean with Absa Bank.
Barclays Bank PLC will remain the majority shareholder of the combined African operations.
However, the bank said that there can be no certainty that these discussions will lead to the merger, which would not be expected to be completed until 2013.
