UPDATE 1-S.Africa Absa shareholder says to sell 3.4 pct stake
* To dispose nearly entire stake
* Shares down 2.6 percent (Adds details)
JOHANNESBURG, Oct 10 (Reuters) - South African black empowerment group Batho Bonke Capital plans to sell 24.7 million shares in Absa Group , a director for the consortium said on Wednesday.
"Batho Bonke is in the process of disposing its shares," Yolande Cuba, a director of Batho Bonke, told Reuters.
The sale would represent almost all of the group's stake in Absa, Cuba said adding that a "lock in" period on the shares had expired in March last year.
The stake would be equivalent to roughly 3.4 percent of Absa's outstanding shares.
Absa is the South African bank majority owned by Barclays .
Batho Bonke acquired a 10 percent stake in Absa in July 2004, according to the lender's website, in a deal to give black people formerly disadvantaged during South Africa's apartheid era greater ownership in the country's companies.
Shares of Absa were down 2.6 percent at 134.85 rand.
(Reporting by Helen Nyambura-Mwaura; editing by David Dolan)
((david.dolan@thomsonreuters.com)(+27 11 775 3150)(Reuters Messaging: david.dolan@thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: ABSA SHARES/