iShares sale to private equity confirmed

Barclays is in exclusive talks with private equity firm CVC Capital Partners over the sale of its...

Barclays is in exclusive talks with private equity firm CVC Capital Partners over the sale of its ETF business iShares, a source familiar with the deal says.

The ETF business could go for £3bn, less than the anticipated £4bn sources expected bidders to offer last week.

The sale is not expected to include the securities lending business of iShares parent company Barclays Global Investors, the source says. Barclays will retain a 20% exposure through warrants.

Sarah MacDonald, spokeswoman at Barclays, declined to comment as did officials at CVC.

Other bidders had included a consortium led by US private equity firm Hellman & Friedman and including Apax Partners and separately, private equity investor Bain Capital. Goldman Sachs is also understood to have been interested in the business.