The agency is providing media PR support for PCP Capital Partners - the investment firm which brokered Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan's bid to take a 16 per cent stake in the UK bank.
‘We have been advising on the core messages that Sheikh Mansour and PCP should be putting out to the market,' said David Bick, Chairman, Square 1 Consulting.
Bick is understood to have met with Ali Jassim, close adviser to Sheikh Mansour, and PCP's Amanda Stavely to discuss the media strategy.
Media interest in the deal has been intense, not least coverage of Staveley herself whose firm reportedly made £40m from her involvement. Described as the city's ‘golden girl' in the Times, Stavely gave interviews to the Sunday Telegraph, FT and Evening Standard and featured extensively in the Guardian, Independent and Daily Mail amongst others.
Square 1 Consulting has an existing relationship with PCP Capital Partners and Sheikh Mansour having been involved in the Sheikh's recent takeover of Manchester City, which was also brokered by Staveley.
In total, Barclays raised £7.05bn from the Middle East, but the investment has not been universally well received. Existing shareholders are angry that the terms of the deal seem inferior to what was on offer from the UK Government.
The PR campaign around the deal will continue as any potential rebellion needs to be curtailed before shareholders vote to approve the proposal on 24 November.
