Barclays is to raise 5.7 billion euros by selling new shares. Many of the 1.6 billion shares will go to Asian and Middle Eastern investors, particularly from Qatar, China, Japan and Singapore.

Barclays, which is one of Britain’s largest banks, said half of that money would be used to rebuild its capital, which has been depleted by writedowns, while the rest will be used for new business opportunities including acquisitions.

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