Barclays Seeks Liquidity With $8.85B Offering

Add Barclays to the ranks of banks that are floating new shares in an effort to restore liquidity in the lingering wake of the subprime debacle, reports the AP. Barclays will offer up $8.85 billion in shares—with large stakes being purchased by Japanese bank Sumitomo Mitsui and the Qatar Investment Authority.

"Through our capital raising ... we strengthen our capital base and give ourselves additional resources to pursue our strategy of growth through earnings diversification," says Barclays' CEO, adding that acquisitions might be a later strategy to spur growth. (More Barclays stories.)