Bob Diamond, co-founder of , said the company isclosing in on purchasing a bank in one of the seven African markets where AtlasMara already has a presence, Bloomberg News reported May 7.

Diamond, who was speaking at the London Business School'sAfrica Business Summit, declined to disclose further details about thepotential deal.

The company said in April that it was in with a group of investorsexploring a potential acquisition of Barclays Plc's stake in

Diamond reportedly added that his plan is to establish afinancial services business across Africa, with operations in 10 to 15 keycountries.