DealZone

As Steve Slater and I wrote earlier:

“British bank Barclays has sidelined private equity houses bidding for iShares, its exchange-traded fund unit, and is looking to sell its entire asset management arm instead if offers approach $12 billion.

“U.S. money manager BlackRock and Bank of New York Mellon are among the interested bidders for Barclays Global Investors (BGI), the world’s biggest asset manager, people familiar with the matter said.”

Looking to boost its capital position and to justify its decision not to take state aid, Barclays is aiming to maximize the proceeds from any asset sales.

But BlackRock crashing the party to buy all of BGI is not necessarily the end for CVC or indeed any of the other private equity firms that are still serious about buying iShares.

Once a firm offer from BlackRock is on the table, the games can begin in earnest. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility for CVC to team up with another trade buyer and trump BlackRock with a consortium bid.  After all, it does have the right to match any rival offers for iShares or all of BGI under the “go shop” clause that was inserted in the deal.

Few can claim to have ever gotten very rich betting against Goldman Sachs. The bank is reported to be cutting its stake in Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and perhaps buying into exchange-traded funds provider iShares.

The Wall Street Journal reports Goldman and ICBC have been talking. Goldman’s 4.9 percent stake in ICBC is worth about $8.5 billion. The timing of a sale seems right, as a lock-up period tying Goldman’s hands ends late next month. The Journal reported Goldman could raise more than $1 billion by selling 15-20 percent of its holding.

Over the last few months, others have also beaten a retreat from China and other points East as risk aversion has grown to dizzying heights. But other financial heavyweights, notably Citigroup, had to repair tattered balance sheets, while Goldman appears to be acting from a position of relative strength. The New York Times reports Goldman plans to pay back the $10 billion it borrowed from U.S. taxpayers last fall — perhaps within the next month.