British banking giant Barclays (NYSE: BCS) is reportedly mulling the sale of its fixed income index business following an overture from index provider MSCI (NYSE: MSCI).
The news was initially reported earlier this week by Reuters.
It could not be determined how much Barclays would get for the unit or how much MSCI offered, Reuters reported.
Barclays is the index provider for some of the largest bond ETFs, including the $2.7 billion iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (NYSEArca: TLT), the $14.6 billion iShares Core Total U.S. Bond Market ETF (NYSEArca: AGG) and the SPDR Barclays High Yield Bond ETF (NYSEArca: JNK), the second-largest junk bond ETF, among others.
Nearly $2.3 trillion in ETF and mutual fund assets track Barclays indices, according to Reuters.