LONDON – The investment company Atlas Mara Co-Nvest, backed by a former Barclays chief executive, Robert E. Diamond Jr., is seeking to raise another $400 million to fund its investments in the African financial sector.
The company said Tuesday that it planned a private placement of 36.5 million shares at a price of $11 a share.
Atlas Mara said the proceeds from the private placement would be used to support the growth of ABC Holdings, which operates the African bank BancABC; future acquisitions and for general corporate purposes.
In March, Atlas Mara agreed to acquire a majority stake in ABC Holdings and to acquire its controlling shareholder, the ADC African Development Corporation, for about $265 million in cash and shares.
The investment company also has entered into a nonbinding memorandum of understanding to privatize the commercial arm of the state-owned Development Bank of Rwanda.
Atlas Mara was formed last year by Mr. Diamond and Ashish J. Thakkar, an entrepreneur whose Mara Group conglomerate has technology, manufacturing and real estate interests in 19 African countries.
The company raised about $325 million last year and was listed on the London Stock Exchange. Atlas Mara asked that the trading of its shares and warrants be suspended in March pending the completion of the ABC Holdings acquisition.
The private placement issue price represents a 3.5 percent discount to the March 31 closing price of Atlas Mara in London, the last day it was traded. The private placement is expected to close by the end of July, following the ABC Holdings acquisition.