Deal set to spark fees bonanza in the City

Investment bank advisers, lawyers and accountants could end up sharing fees of more than $75 million (£45.2 million) if today's deal between Barclays and BlackRock goes through.

That comes as welcome news to the City which has suffered a relatively poor last 12 to 18 months as the credit crunch has forced corporate deals to be shelved.

Banks advising on today's deal could share in fees of $45 million with Credit Suisse, BlackRock's lead adviser, collecting around $26 million and Barclays' adviser Lazard getting up to $14 million, according to mergers and acquisition consultancy Freeman & Co.

Barclays' lead adviser is its own in-house investment bank Barclays Capital, so it has effectively saved itself a huge bill there. JP Morgan Cazenove, the corporate broker to Barclays, could pick up $1 million.

Even advisers on the thwarted CVC deal to buy iShares will receive large fees. Rothschild, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank could share some $35 million of the $175 million break fee Barclays will pay to CVC.