Acquisition

Barclays PLC
18 August 2004

                                                               August 18th, 2004

       BARCLAYS PLC ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION OF JUNIPER FINANCIAL CORPORATION

Barclays PLC ('Barclays') today (August 18, 2004) announced that Barclays Bank
PLC has agreed to acquire the credit card issuer, Juniper Financial Corporation
('Juniper'), from CIBC for a total cash consideration of US$293 million which
represents a premium to receivables of 15.2%*. Barclays will finance the
transaction out of existing cash resources. This transaction would result in one
of Europe's leading card and consumer finance businesses, Barclaycard, entering
the US credit card market through the acquisition of one of North America's
fastest growing issuers.

The acquisition, which is expected to complete later this year, is conditional
upon clearance from the appropriate US regulatory authorities.

Acquiring Juniper underlines Barclays strategy to grow its global product
businesses. This includes the objective that, within ten years, the
international credit card business of Barclaycard should be as meaningful a
contributor to the Group as Barclaycard UK.

Founded in 2000, Juniper is a leading full-service credit card issuer
headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware. It has grown rapidly to US$1.4 billion in
receivables and 700,000 accounts in around four years.

Juniper has an experienced management team and a distinctive business strategy
providing co-branded credit cards and credit card services to leading US
companies, financial institutions and not-for-profit organisations. It has
partnerships with leading US organisations such as AirTran Airways, Best
Western, Caesars Entertainment, Frontier Airlines, Gulf Petroleum, Midwest
Airlines and Sinclair Oil. Juniper has a scaleable operating platform that
Barclays believes will support future growth and a portfolio that is
predominantly prime and super-prime in credit quality terms.

Barclays plans to invest to expand the existing business and expects Juniper to
be making a significant contribution to Barclaycard's operating profit within
three years.

Commenting on the acquisition, Barclaycard Chief Executive, Gary Hoffman, said:
'Over the last four years Juniper has been one of the fastest growing credit
card issuers in North America. We believe this acquisition will provide us with
low risk entry to the largest credit card market in the world, a scaleable
platform built for growth and one of the strongest management teams in the
business with a track record in growing US credit card businesses.'

He continued: 'Barclays will bring Juniper its strong balance sheet, low cost of
funding and international presence. We will also bring the capabilities and
corporate relationships from other parts of the Barclays Group to support
Juniper's future growth plans. With this merger of strategy, skill and
resources, we see this as an attractive platform for growth in North America.'

Mr Hoffman will become Chairman of Juniper and Juniper will become part of the
Barclaycard International business.

Richard Vague, Chief Executive, Juniper Financial Corp. said: 'The biggest
winners will be our client partners. We will be able to offer them more services
in more places around the world. As a result of this transaction, we have an
even greater opportunity to help our partners exceed their business goals
through world class card programmes. We will be able to extend our co-branding
efforts further and faster.'

James W. Stewart, President, Juniper Financial Corp., said: 'This is a great
move for Juniper, its customers, its partners, employees and the communities
where we live and work. Our management team is thrilled by the prospect of
helping Barclays accelerate its global aspirations. Barclays is committed to
growing the business which will provide fantastic opportunities for our
employees as they join one of the top banks in the world.'

Barclaycard is a leading card and loans business in Europe. It has 10.8 million
UK card customers with average outstanding balances of £9.3bn as at 30 June
2004. Barclaycard also provides consumer loans with average outstanding balances
of £9.2bn and card transaction services to 89,000 merchants and company cards to
140,000 corporate customers. Barclaycard International has 1.8 million cards in
circulation with average extended credit balances of £0.8bn.

Earlier this month Barclays announced record half-year profits. Profit before
tax was £2.4bn, up 23 per cent on the previous half-year. Barclaycard's profit
before tax increased by 11 per cent to £428 million. Barclaycard International
continued to make good progress with income up 23 per cent to £73 million.

Barclays already has two businesses with significant operations in the US:
Barclays Capital, the Group's investment banking business, which has its US
headquarters in New York City, and Barclays Global Investors (BGI), which has
its global headquarters in San Francisco. Together, Barclays Capital and BGI
contributed some 30 per cent of Barclays total profit before tax for the first
six months of 2004.
                                     (ENDS)


* Based on Juniper's June 30th unaudited balance sheet.


Barclays PLC

Barclays is an international financial services group engaged primarily in
banking, investment banking and investment management. Barclays has been
involved in banking for over 300 years and operates in over 60 countries, with
76,200 employees and over 2,900 branches worldwide. Barclays has five major
business groupings. UK Banking is its core retail and business banking franchise
in the UK. Barclays has around 14 million UK personal customers and 740,000
business customers. Private Clients and International are comprised of Barclays
wealth management business and personal and commercial banking activities
outside the UK. Barclaycard is the largest credit card brand in Europe and
operates in Germany, France, Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Republic of Ireland
and across Africa. Barclays Capital is the Group's investment bank focused on
financing and risk management focused and BGI is Barclays global leader in the
institutional investment management market. For more information about Barclays
PLC, please visit www.barclays.com



Juniper

Juniper is a leading U.S. credit card issuer with $1.4 billion in receivables
and approximately 700,000 accounts. It is based in Wilmington, Delaware and has
approximately 400 employees. Founded in 2000, Juniper is recognised as one of
North America's fastest growing credit card issuers. Juniper issues cards for
some of the most successful organisations in the US including AirTran Airways,
Best Western, Caesars Entertainment, Frontier Airlines, Midwest Airlines,
National Park Foundation, Orbitz, Sinclair Oil and Gulf Petroleum among others.
For more information about Juniper and its products and services visit
www.Juniper.com


CIBC

CIBC is a leading North American financial institution with more than nine
million personal banking and business customers. CIBC offers a full range of
products and services through its comprehensive electronic banking network and
at branches and offices across Canada, the United States and around the world.
For more information about CIBC visit the CIBC Press Centre at www.cibc.com

For further information, please contact:

At Barclays:
Pam Horrell
Group Public Relations, Barclays
Tel: ++ 44 [phone]

Chris Tucker
Group Public Relations, Barclays
Tel: ++ 44 [phone]

At Juniper:
Steve Kerns
SparkPR
Tel: ++ 1 [phone]

At CIBC:
Rob McLeod
Tel: ++ 1 [phone]


This document contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of
Section 21E of the US Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Section
27A of the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended, with respect to certain of the
Group's plans and its current goals and expectations relating to its future
financial condition and performance in particular, with respect to Barclaycard
and its expansion strategy. These forward-looking statements can be identified
by the fact that they do not relate only to historical or current facts.
Forward-looking statements sometimes use words such as 'anticipate', 'target',
'expect', 'estimate', 'intend', 'plan', 'goal', 'believe', or other words of
similar meaning. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and
uncertainty because they relate to future events and circumstances, including,
but not limited to, UK domestic and global economic and business conditions,
market related risks such as changes in interest rates and exchange rates, the
integration of Juniper Financial Corporation into the Barclaycard business and
the future performance of the Juniper and Barclaycard business, the policies and
actions of governmental and regulatory authorities, changes in legislation and
the impact of competition, a number of which are beyond the Group's control. As
a result, the Group's actual future results may differ materially from the
plans, goals, and expectations set forth in the Group's forward-looking
statements. Any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of the Group
speak only as of the date they are made. The Group does not undertake to update
forward-looking statements to reflect any changes in the Group expectations with
regard thereto or any changes in events, conditions or circumstances on which
any such statement is based. The reader should, however, consult any additional
disclosures that the Group has made or may make in documents it has filed or may
file with the SEC including its most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F.



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