How Amanda Staveley helped save Barclays – and is now suing it for £1bn

Dealmaker Amanda Staveley was instrumental in helping to get Barclays out of its funding hole. But now she wants her share of the cash.

At the height of the global financial crisis of 2007-2009, an exotic new individual appeared on the scene, says The Sunday Times. Amanda Staveley, then 35, had already made waves in 2008 by brokering Sheikh Mansour of Abu Dhabi's takeover of Manchester City. However, the deal that would "mark her ascendancy into the premier league of dealmaking" came when Staveley and her advisory boutique, PCP Capital Partners, were instrumental in securing much of the £7.3bn in emergency cash from the Gulf that helped keep Barclays from falling under the control of the UK government (see below). The deal cemented her reputation as "the go-to woman to broker deals between wealthy Gulf investors and the West".

At the time, Staveley a former waitress and model who claimed to have turned down a marriage invitation from Prince Andrew was believed to have made £40m from the deal, says the Daily Mail. It looked as though she was "laughing all the way to the bank". But seven years on, she's back, suing Barclays for £1bn that she claims she's owed for arranging the Abu Dhabi side of the deal (including interest). Barclays insists the claim is "misconceived and without merit" and says it will fight it "vigorously".But Staveley is likely to prove tenacious.

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