(Alliance News) - Barclays PLC on Thursday said its subsidiary Barclays Principal Investments Ltd has agreed to sell its entire shareholding in joint venture Entercard Group AB to its joint venture partner Swedbank AB.

The London-based bank said Entercard, which was established as a joint venture in 2005, mainly provides consumer credit to customers in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland.

At the end of March, Entercard had total assets of SEK36 billion, or around GBP2.80 billion, primarily in card and loan receivables.

Barclays said Stockholm-based Swedbank will buy the shareholding at book value, equal to half of the net assets of Entercard.

This would be around SEK2.6 billion, or GBP202.4 million, based on estimates from the end of March, payable in cash.

The British bank expects the sale to release around GBP900 million of risk-weighted assets, which would increase Barclays' CET1 ratio by 4 basis points on completion.

The transaction is expected to complete by the end of 2025.

"For 20 years, Entercard has been on a strong growth journey. Becoming a full part of Swedbank, the leading financial group in Sweden and the Baltics, creates new business opportunities to further strengthen our operations," said Entercard Chief Executive Officer Jan Haglund.

Shares in Barclays were up 0.5% at 373.15 pence in London on Thursday morning. Swedbank shares climbed 0.8% to SEK270.50 in Stockholm.

By Michael Hennessey, Alliance News reporter

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