UPDATE 2-Barclays close to selling unit to Blackrock-FT

* BlackRock may buy Barclays' BGI asset management unit

* Barclays wants at least $12 billion, FT says

* Barclays still in talks with several parties-source (Adds quote, paragraph 3; byline)

By Douwe Miedema

LONDON, June 5 (Reuters) - British bank Barclays (BARC.L) is close to selling its Barclays Global Investors (BGI) asset management unit to U.S. money manager BlackRock (BLK.N), the Financial Times said on Friday.

The deal would be worth more than $10 billion, but talks could still halt because Barclays had asked at least $12 billion, the FT said on its website, and a compromise could still take days to be hammered out.

"Barclays is still in talks with a couple of interested parties on BGI and iShares," a person familiar with the situation told Reuters, asking not to be named.

Barclays declined to comment on the story. BlackRock also declined to comment, citing a company policy not to comment on rumours or speculation.

Bank of New York Mellon (BK.N) has also been mentioned as a bidder for BGI, widely regarded as a jewel in crown.