BlackRock to acquire equity stake in Envestnet
Wealthtech companies Envestnet and BlackRock have entered into a partnership agreement in which Envestnet will integrate BlackRock’s Digital Wealth technologies into its platform. On the financial side of the deal, BlackRock will take a 4.9% equity stake in Envestnet in a stock transaction totaling $123 million, reports Julie Muhn at Finovate.
“Integrating BlackRock Digital Wealth offerings into the Envestnet platform represents an industry milestone, advancing advisors’ ability to help investors meet their financial goals,” says Bill Crager, president of Envestnet.
BlackRock launched its Digital Wealth services last October to merge its wealthtech offerings.
The services iRetire, BlackRock Advisor Center and FutureAdvisor, which BlackRock acquired in 2015, will all be integrated into the Envestnet platform.
In addition to the stock transaction, Envestnet will offer BlackRock the option to purchase 470,000 shares of Envestnet common stock at $65.16 per share for up to four years from the date of issue. The agreement is expected to close before the end of this year.
In September, Envestnet unveiled a new developer experience that delivers enhanced data that spans 18,000 global sources, as well as updated tools that aim to speed up the developer experience.
Adding to that effort, the company recruited Sebastien Taveau, former chief developer evangelist for Mastercard, as its vice-president of Developer Experience.
Envestnet was founded in 1999 and acquired Yodlee in 2015 for $660 million. Envestnet has a market capitalisation of $2.52 billion.