Barclays confirms sell-off talks with BlackRock

LONDON - Barclays on Monday said it had held talks with US money manager BlackRock on the possible sale of the British bank's asset management arm.

The Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported over the weekend that a sale of Barclays Global Investors (BGI) to BlackRock for 13 billion dollars (9.3 billion euros) could be announced this week.

"Barclays has had discussions with a number of parties, including with BlackRock" regarding the sale of BGI, the bank said on Monday.

"The discussions are not yet concluded and there are a number of significant open issues which could affect the nature and terms of any transaction," it added in a brief statement.