BlackRock will acquire Preqin in a £2.55bn cash deal, beating S&P Global and Bloomberg in its bid.
The acquisition of Preqin, a UK private markets data group, is one of the largest deals within the private market space for BlackRock following its acquisition of Global Infrastructure Partners for a $12.5bn deal in January. The asset manager aims to leverage investor demand for alternative assets.
Preqin will remain a separate organisation from BlackRock while its data will be integrated into BlackRock’s risk management platforms, Aladdin and eFront.
Data providers have increased their dealmaking with major acquisitions including S&P Global’s $44 billion purchase of IHS Markit and the London Stock Exchange’s $27 billion purchase of Refinitiv. Smaller purchases include Permira’s $1.3 billion purchase of a majority share in Reorg.
Preqin specialises in tracking the performance of private equity and hedge funds. It provides data on fund managers and investors, serving about 200,000 users, and 48,000 customers and has 16 offices globally.
The UK data firm was founded in 2004 by Mark O’Hare who will become a vice chairman at BlackRock.
