Barclays PLC said Friday it has received several expressions of interest in buying all or part of its Global Investors business, potentially derailing an earlier agreement to sell its iShares unit.

Barclays did not identify any of the interested parties, but the Financial Times had reported that the bank was negotiating a potential $10 billion sale of Global Investors to New York-based BlackRock Inc., which manages US$1.28 trillion in assets.

BlackRock declined to comment on the report.

'Go shop' clause

Last month, Barclays agreed to sell iShares, a part of Barclays Global Investors, to CVC Capital Partners for US$4.4 billion. However, a 'go shop' clause in the agreement allowed Barclays until June 18 to make a better deal and pay a US$175 million break up fee to CVC.

"Under the transaction agreement, Barclays may solicit proposals for iShares from third parties for at least 45 business days from 15th April 2009," Barclays said in an announcement to the London Stock Exchange.

"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."

Capital position

Barclays shares were up 6.3 per cent to £2.69 on the London Stock Exchange.

Barclays put iShares on the market as it looked to shore up its capital position without resorting to a government bailout.

San Francisco-based iShares accounts for more than half of Barclays Global Investors' profits despite managing less than a quarter of the operation's assets.

Barclays says the Global Investors unit is the world's largest asset manager with more than 3,000 institutional clients and approximately US$1.5 trillion of assets under management as of December 31.

- AP