McGraw-Hill, CME Said to Weigh Joint Bid for Barclays Index Arm

McGraw-Hill Financial Inc. and CME Group Inc. are interested in acquiring Barclays Plc’s index business and merging it with S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC -- manager of the benchmark S&P 500 Index and Dow Jones Industrial Average, according to people familiar with the matter.

McGraw-Hill and CME are weighing a joint bid for the Index, Portfolio and Risk Solutions unit, or IPRS, which could fetch more than $500 million in a sale, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter isn’t public. MSCI Inc. and Intercontinental Exchange Inc. are also weighing offers for the business, with first-round bids due by the end of the month, the people said.