Friday May 15, 02:21 PM
Barclays gets interest for asset management arm
LONDON (AFP) - British banking group Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) on Friday said it had received interest regarding the possible sale of its asset management arm.
The Financial Times earlier Friday reported that Barclays was in talks to sell Barclays Global Investors (BGI (BGII.PK - news) ) as it seeks to strengthen its balance sheet following the world banking crisis.
Citing people familiar with the matter, the business daily said Barclays was looking to sell the unit for about 10 billion dollars (7.3 billion euros) and had several potential bidders, including US money manager BlackRock (NYSE: BLK - news) .
Last month, Barclays sold part of the BGI business, iShares, to private equity group CVC Capital Partners for 4.4 billion dollars, a move which helped the bank avoid having to join a government insurance scheme for risky assets.
Barclays on Friday said that as part of its sale agreement with CVC, it "may solicit proposals for iShares from third parties for at least 45 business days from 15th April 2009."
It added in a statement: "Barclays has received a number of expressions of interest, including unsolicited interest in the broader BGI business. There can be no certainty that any of these approaches will result in a different transaction."
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