LONDON (Alliance News) - Bob Diamond, the former Chief Executive of Barclays PLC, has turned to his old stomping ground in order recruit the new leader of Atlas Mara Co-Nvest Ltd, the investment company he co-founded to make financial services acquisitions in Africa.
In a statement, Tuesday, Atlas Mara said it has hired John Vitalo, Barclays' Chief Executive for Middle East and North Africa since May 2009, to be its new Chief Executive.
Prior to that, Vitalo was based in Johannesburg, where he was responsible for building and leading Absa Capital, the pan-African investment bank.
"I am delighted that John has agreed to become Atlas Mara's CEO. I have worked with him over many years. He is a business builder, deeply knowledgeable in the critical areas of technology and risk and he is trusted by his colleagues and clients," Diamond said in a statement.
Atlas Mara has also entered a memorandum of understanding with the Government of Rwanda to pursue the privatisation of BRD, the commercial arm of the Development Bank of Rwanda.
If it goes ahead the deal would mark Atlas Mara's first foray into the East African Community.
The news marks a busy few weeks for Atlas Mara, during which it has agreed to acquire a majority stake in sub-Saharan African bank ABC Holdings Ltd (Banc ABC) and ADC African Development Corporation AG for up to USD265 million in cash and shares.
Atlas Mara listed on the London Stock Exchange in December 2013, raising GBP325 million in its initial public offering.
By Samuel Agini; samagini@alliancenews.com; @samuelagini
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Barclays (BARC)