BlackRock looks set to seal the acquisition of Barclays Global Investors and become the world's biggest money manager by Wednesday according to people close to the talks.
The US group plans to pay Barclays $12bn-$13bn (£7.5bn-£8.1bn) for BGI – half in cash and half in shares – to create a group with more than $3,000bn in assets under management, half as much again as nearest rivals, such State Street, Allianz and Fidelity.
Bank insiders said the proceeds would boost Barclays' 7 per cent tier one capital ratio – a measure of its balance sheet strength – by more than 1 percentage point, and bring it nearer to the expectations of the Financial Services Authority.