Barclays in $10bn talks over BGI sale

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Barclays is in talks about selling asset management arm Barclays Global Investors for about $10bn, with potential bidders including US money manager BlackRock. The talks follow an initial auction for iShares, BGI’s exchange-traded funds unit, which Barclays agreed to sell to buyout group CVC for $4.2bn last month. Under a “go-shop” provision of that sale, Barclays can seek alternative bidders for iShares until June 18. For BlackRock, buying BGI would massively boost its ETF business. BC Partners and Hellman & Friedman, meanwhile, are both considering a counter-bid for iShares.