shareholders votedat an April 28 general meeting to approve any of ordinary shares inBarclays Africa Group Ltd.

InMarch, Barclays said it would sell down its stake in Barclays Africa "to a levelwhich permits accounting and regulatory deconsolidation over the next two tothree years."

on April 26confirmed that itheld discussions with a consortium including Atlas Merchant Capital LLC and Mara Group over apotential combination of Atlas Mara and Barclays Africa. Atlas Merchant Capitalwas founded by former Barclays CEO Bob Diamond, who co-founded Atlas Mara withMara Group founder Ashish Thakkar.

AtlasMerchant Capital is reportedly collaborating with Carlyle Group LP on the offer.