Deutsche Bank to raise £6.5bn in capital from investors

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/27464663

Version 0 of 1.

Deutsche Bank, one of Europe's largest lenders, is planning to raise 8bn euros (£6.5bn) of capital.

It has sold a stake worth 1.75bn euros to an investment firm controlled by a member of the Qatari royal family.

It will raise a further 6.3bn euros through a rights offer to existing shareholders, it said.

Authorities across Europe are demanding lenders hold more capital to absorb potential losses and make banks less likely to fail.

Deutsche Bank has been to shareholders twice before in recent years, raising 10.2bn euros in 2010 and 3bn euros in 2013.

Those increases in capital were not seen by investors as enough amid stiffer demands from regulators.

The 1.75bn euro-stake was sold to Paramount Holdings Services, an investment vehicle owned by Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabor Al-Thani of Qatar.

'Sustainable success'

"These measures enable Deutsche Bank to position itself for long-term, sustainable success in a time of historic change in the global banking industry," Deutsche Bank's chief executives, Juergen Fitschen and Anshu Jain, said.

Last month, Mr Jain said the bank "would not rule out any option" to strengthen its capital base.

Deutsche Bank said it would hire bankers in the US, invest 200m euros in Germany and Europe, hire up to 100 advisers to help its biggest corporate clients and expand its wealth management team in some markets by 15% in the next three years.

Last summer Barclays issued about £5.8bn in new shares to help plug a £12.8bn capital shortfall created by new regulatory demands. It also attracted investment from Qatar, but at the height of the financial crisis.