Amanda Staveley mounts fresh legal action against Barclays over 2008 Qatari rescue

Dealmaker and co-owner of Newcastle United Amanda Staveley has mounted new legal case against Barclays over a rescue deal the bank made with Qatar during the financial crisis.

Funds tied to her private equity firm, PCP Capital Partners, are seeking damages against the bank at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris, City A.M. understands.

Staveley’s ICC case started late last year and could run until as late as 2026.

The new case, which was first reported by The Telegraph, is similar to the one Staveley previously made in the British High Court, which she lost in 2021.

The high-profile trial saw PCP allege that Barclays gave it less favourable treatment than other parties in the emergency £7.3bn fundraising that saved the bank from a state bailout in 2008.

PCP lawyers said the firm, which led a £3.25bn Abu Dhabi-backed investment into Barclays, missed out on hundreds of millions of pounds after it was duped into funding the bank on much worse terms than Qatar.

The court heard that the bank paid Qatari investors £346m in fees, as well as an unsecured £2bn loan, despite promising Staveley, whose firm received a £30m fee, that she would get “the same deal”.

Barclays said it had inked separate, commercial agreements with Qatar and that its group credit committee approved the loan.

PCP’s initial damages claim sought up to £1.6bn, but this sum was gradually scaled back to between £600m and £830m.

A High Court judge found that Barclays was “guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation” and had deceived Staveley.

Although the judgment ruled the deception was worth £615m, it rejected Staveley’s claim for damages after finding that she would not have been able to raise enough to complete the deal even if Barclays had been honest.

Barclays’ rescue deal with Qatar was subject to a criminal investigation by the Serious Fraud Office, which ultimately dropped the case.

The state-run Qatari Investment Authority remains the bank’s fourth-largest shareholder, despite cutting its stake in half last month.

Barclays, Staveley, PCP and the ICC did not provide comments when approached by City A.M.

Staveley is famous for brokering the Saudi Arabian takeover of Newcastle United in 2021.