Barclays is in talks to sell its prized asset management arm after the auction of its iShares unit sparked interest in more parts of the British bank.

The bank said it has received "unsolicited interest" for San Francisco-based Barclays Global Investors (BGI), the world's biggest fund manager.

A deal would likely be worth $10 billion or more, sources said.

Interested bidders for BGI, renowned for the number of PhDs among its staff, include US money manager BlackRock and US bank Bank of New York Mellon, a source said.

The interest for BGI emerged as Barclays sought more offers for iShares, the exchange-traded funds unit that is part of BGI.

The bank said it has received "a number of expressions of interest" for iShares before a June 18 deadline for bids.

"If a sale of BGI as a whole were on the table at the price north of $10 billion, I would regard that as a good price in this market," Ian Gordon, analyst at Exane BNP Paribas was quoted as saying in our sister publication the Gulf Daily News.

"I don't think Barclays' core objective is to sell BGI, but if they are offered a price for any business that is accretive to shareholders they are duty-bound to look at it."

Selling BGI would derail a separate sale of iShares, which Barclays has earlier agreed to sell to buyout firm CVC Capital Partners for £3 billion ($4.5 billion).

The talks over BGI, which likes to boast about the work done by its research lab, have emerged as Barclays attempts to lure more offers for iShares.

BGI is staffed by academics covering a wide range of disciplines from economics to engineering, physics and computer science, attracting graduates from the nearby University of California at Berkeley. – TradeArabia News Service