FT: How the $12.5bn BlackRock-GIP deal is set to shake up investment management

THE FINANCIAL TIMES writes:

BlackRock chief executive Larry Fink has been searching for years for the right private markets partner to make his $10tn money manager as formidable a player in alternative investments as it is in traditional asset management.

His overtures to private equity, private credit and hedge funds rarely got beyond the first meal. Often the cultures or business models clashed. When the alternatives titans got intrigued by the idea of a tie-up, they proved unwilling to give BlackRock the majority control it wanted.

Global Infrastructure Partners was different. When Fink and GIP founder Adebayo Ogunlesi met for an October dinner at Fasano, an Italian restaurant steps away from Rockefeller Center in New York, the menu included plans for a combination that could shake up the investment management industry.

Ogunlesi had built GIP in less than two decades into one of the standout firms in the lucrative private investment industry. With just 400 people, his infrastructure investment outfit had grown to hold $106bn in assets including stakes in airports in Sydney and London, ports, green energy and large pipelines…

The full post is here.

The official statement is here: “BlackRock Agrees to Acquire Global Infrastructure Partners (“GIP”), Creating a World Leading Infrastructure Private Markets Investment Platform“