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Barclays hires Actis executive for natural resources group

Meb Somani, formerly the head of oil and gas at Actis, will join 15 other investment professionals in Barclays Capital’s natural resource principal investment group. The group invests Barclays’ balance sheet capital and sits within its investment banking division.

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Meb Somani is leaving Actis Capital to join Barclays Capital’s natural resource principal investment group.

Meb Somani

At Actis, Somani was the head of oil and gas, based in London. He joined the emerging markets-focused private equity firm in 2006 and previously worked for 20 years with Shell and Texaco in engineering and management roles.

Barclays established the natural resource group in 2006 to invest the bank’s balance sheet capital into the natural resources sector globally. The group focuses on growth equity investments in upstream oil and gas, mining, power and renewables sectors. It sits within Barclays Capital, the investment banking division of Barclays Bank.

In 2007, the group joined a consortium of NGP Midstream & Resources and NGP M&R Offshore Holdings in investing $200 million into Imagin Natural Resources, a natural resource company specialising in coal and other diversified mineral investments.

London-based Mark Brown heads the group, which now consists of 16 investment professionals in London, New York and Sydney.