(Reuters) -Barclays has re-entered negotiations with Brookfield Asset Management about a deal to sell a stake in its British merchant payments business to the Canadian asset manager, Sky News reported on Tuesday.
A deal would make Brookfield a majority stakeholder in Barclays’ merchant payments business, while providing the capital needed to fund the unit’s growth, the Sky News report said, adding the valuation was unclear.
Barclay’s, Britain’s third-biggest bank, had initially hoped to value the business at more than 2 billion pounds ($2.5 billion) but found it difficult to sell a stake at that price, Reuters had reported.
Brookfield, which manages assets worth more than $825 billion, was one of the firms that dropped out of bidding in recent months, mainly due to the price, Reuters had reported.
“As we confirmed at our February investor update, we are exploring a number of options for investment in our market-leading merchant acquiring business, including strategic partnerships,” a spokesperson for Barclays said in an emailed statement.
Brookfield declined to comment on the Sky News report.
(Reporting by Yamini Kalia and Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D’Souza)
