The asset management unit could be sold to a private bidder, insiders have claimed.
A major high street bank is pondering whether or not to sell its asset management unit, as it tries to streamline its balance sheet against the current financial downturn.
Barclays is thought to be negotiating to offload Barclays Global Investors (BGI) to a private bidder, the Financial Times reports. Sources close to the deal suggest that potential buyers include asset management firm BlackRock - and that the sale price would be around £6.6 billion.
The UK bank has thus far avoided seeking government bailout money in order to help it through the credit crunch and recession, unlike rivals RBS, Lloyds TSB and HBOS. Instead, Barclays has sought to raise money from the private sector, striking a share-selling deal with the Abu Dhabi royal family last year and now seeking to offload key business units.
iShares, the bank's Exchange Traded Funds provider and part of BGI, was auctioned last month, with private equity firm CVC Capital Partners making the winning bid of just under £2.8 billion. However, a clause in the sales agreement allows Barclays to seek out other buyers for the unit - a detail which has allowed the talks on the sale of BGI as a whole to proceed.
Shrinking the balance sheet through such a deal would raise capital, allowing Barclays to continue functioning independently. This stands in contrast to RBS and the Lloyds Banking Group, incorporating Lloyds TSB and HBOS - which are part-owned by the government following the bailout plans.
"iShares is the beating heart of BGI," a source told the newspaper. "So as long as they were selling iShares, it made sense to sell it all."
