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Administration June 8, 2009
BlackRock Confirms Discussions about Purchasing Barclays
June 8, 2009 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - BlackRock, Inc.
confirmed that it has been engaged in discussions with
Barclays Bank plc about BlackRock's potential purchase of
Barclays Global Investors (BGI), including the iShares
business.
Reported by Rebecca Moore
The company said in a news release that negotiations are ongoing and there is no certainty that any transaction will be agreed upon or, if agreed upon, completed.
In April, Barclays announced a deal to sell its iShares business to CVC Capital for $4.4 billion, but it reserved the right to keep entertaining suitors until June 18 (see Vanguard Weighs in with $5B iShares Offer ).
In May, Barclays said it had received “unsolicited interest” in BGI, as well as iShares, since the CVC deal was announced. Bloomberg reported inquiries for a broader deal from BlackRock and Bank of New York Mellon (see Barclays Reported Considering Broader BGI Deal ).