Money management giant BlackRock is close to announcing that it has won the bidding war for Barclays Global Investors, according to a report on the Web site of Pensions & Investments magazine.

The story, by veteran journalist Douglas Appell, said that BlackRock is expected to announce shortly that it would be BGI's new owner. The article cited unnamed sources.

Someone not connected directly to the deal told Appell that word of an agreeement likely will come within days.

Sources also told P&I that CVC Capital Partners, which originally agreed to pay $4.5 billion for BGI's iShares exchange-traded funds business, would get an opportunity to raise its original bid.

The CVC deal had a window for BGI to shop itself unti June 18. A P&I source thought it was unlikely that CVC would be willing to top BlackRock's $10-billion plus offer for the combined BGI franchise.

P&I estimates that a joining of BGI and BlackRock would create the world's biggest instititutional money manager, with more than $2.2 trillion in assets.

You can read the full story here.