Barclays to Raise 5.8 Billion Pounds in Rights Offering

Barclays Plc, the U.K.’s second-largest bank by assets, plans to raise 5.8 billion pounds ($8.9 billion) in a rights offering to bolster capital as it booked its biggest charge to date for customer compensation.

Investors will be able to buy one new share for every four they already own for 185 pence, 40 percent less than yesterday’s closing price, London-based Barclays said in a statement today. It will also shrink assets by as much as 80 billion pounds to 1.5 trillion pounds and sell 2 billion pounds of loss-absorbing securities to meet calls by the regulator to cut leverage.