Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners is unlikely to match BlackRock Inc.'s (BLK) $13.5 billion (GBP8.2 billion) agreed offer for Barclays Global Investors, or BGI, a person familiar with the company said Friday.

Barclays PLC (BCS) had previously agreed to sell the BGI unit iShares to CVC for GBP3 billion. The terms of the deal allowed Barclays to shop around for a better offer until June 18.

In the meantime, several investors expressed interest in iShares alone and in BGI, its parent division.

Barclays announced the cash and shares deal Friday in terms of which it gets a 19.9% interest in BlackRock and GBP4 billion in cash.

The deal is part of Barclays' ongoing strategy to repair its balance sheet in the wake of the financial crisis and avoid turning to the U.K. government for support.

If the BlackRock deal goes ahead, Barclays said it will add 150 basis points to its core Tier 1 ratio, lifting it to a pro forma 8% at the end of 2008. The bank has maintained its independence, while local rivals Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group (LYG) are now partly state-owned.

-By Marietta Cauchi, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 207 842 9241; marietta.cauchi@dowjones.com