BlackRock to acquire private markets data provider Preqin for $3.2bn
US asset management firm BlackRock is set to acquire Preqin, a private markets data solutions provider headquartered in the UK, in a $3.2 billion (£2.55 billion) cash deal.
BlackRock to acquire Preqin for $3.2 billion
The transaction, expected to close later this year subject to regulatory approval, will see Preqin’s data and research tools merge with BlackRock’s portfolio management platform Aladdin and its private markets solution eFront.
This combination, BlackRock says, will consolidate the data, research and investment process for fund managers and investors across fundraising, deal sourcing, portfolio management, accounting and performance, creating a “preeminent private markets technology and data provider”.
As part of the acquisition, Preqin founder Mark O’Hare will also join BlackRock as a vice chair.
For BlackRock, which claims to service over 1,000 clients through its Aladdin platform, Preqin is expected to bolster its abilities within private markets and alternative assets specifically, enhancing its provision of standardised data, benchmarks and analytics to “enable investors to better incorporate private asset classes into portfolios and provide fund managers with better data and tools to deliver outcomes for clients”.
Commenting on the deal, BlackRock COO Rob Goldstein says that the increasing shift towards portfolio diversification across a number of asset classes requires “technology, data, and analytics that create a ‘common language’ for investing across both public and private markets”.
“We see data powering the industry across technology, capital formation, investing, and risk management,” he says.
Sudhir Nair, Global Head of Aladdin, adds that with Preqin, “we can make private markets investing easier and more accessible while building a better-connected platform for investors and fund managers”.
Nair describes the purchase as a “substantial opportunity” for the platform to “bridge the transparency gap between public and private markets through data and analytics”.
