BlackRock to take over Global Infrastructure Partners in $12.5bn deal
New York-based BlackRock has agreed to buy compatriot fund manager Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) in a $12.5bn cash and shares deal.
The deal will see the world’s largest asset manager take over GIP for $3bn in cash and around 12m Blackrock shares.
GIP is the world’s largest independent infrastructure manager with over $100bn in assets under management, across equity and credit strategies, including offshore wind farms Gode Wind 1, Borkum Riffgrund 2 and Hornsea 1 as well as offshore wind developers Skyborn Renewables and Bluepoint Wind, a joint venture with Ocean Winds.
GIP also has stakes in the Australian ports of Melbourne and Brisbane, Terminal Investment Limited (TIL), the ports arm of leading liner Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) and several LNG projects.
The transaction, expected to close in the third quarter of 2024, will create a world-leading infrastructure private markets investment platform with over $150bn of assets under management that will be overseen by the GIP management team, led by Bayo Ogunlesi, which will remain in place.
“Infrastructure is one of the most exciting long-term investment opportunities, as a number of structural shifts re-shape the global economy. We believe the expansion of both physical and digital infrastructure will continue to accelerate, as governments prioritise self-sufficiency and security through increased domestic industrial capacity, energy independence, and onshoring or near-shoring of critical sectors. Policymakers are only just beginning to implement once-in-a-generation financial incentives for new infrastructure technologies and projects,” said Laurence D. Fink, BlackRock chairman and CEO.
