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Report: Ex-Barclays CEO Diamond to join board of acquisition vehicle SPAXS

Former Barclays Plc CEO Bob Diamond plans to join the board of acquisition vehicle SPAXS as a nonexecutive director after the fund's acquisition of an Italian lender, the Financial Times reported Feb. 2, citing "a person briefed on the matter."

SPAXS has short-listed five potential targets for acquisition, Chairman Corrado Passera said following the launch of the company's €600 million IPO on Feb. 1, which saw it listed on the Milan exchange's alternative investment segment. The company will acquire one of the shortlisted lenders for as much as €60 million, with the intention of turning it into a small-business-focused online bank.

Most of the proceeds from the IPO will be used to finance new lending and investments in addition to funding the digital bank, Passera told reporters in Milan.

Diamond is the biggest investor in SPAXS via his investment vehicle, Atlas Merchant Capital LLC, according to the report, which noted that Passera also chairs Greek consumer lender Credicom, now owned by Atlas Merchant. Passera and Diamond also discussed making an offer for Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA in 2016, the FT added.