Barclays is considering putting its entire board of directors up for re-election next year to placate institutional investors who have criticised the terms of the bank’s £7bn capital increase. The bank, which held a tense meeting with some key investors last Friday, has offered the concession in efforts to head off a shareholder revolt at an  extraordinary meeting set for Nov 24 to approve its plans to raise £5.8bn from investors in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. The deal would dilute existing shareholders’ holdings. Legal & General Investment Management, which owns about 5% of Barclays, and Aviva Investors, which holds a 1% stake, are considering voting against the fundraising. On Tuesday, their position gained a boost from Pirc, the pensions and investment research consultants, which advised shareholders to reject the plan to raise funds from the Qatar Investment Authority and Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of Abu Dhabi’s royal family.

This entry was posted by Gwen Robinson on Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 at 5:42 and is filed under Capital markets, People. Tagged with aviva, barclays, Legal & General, QIA. Edit this entry.