BlackRock buying credit investment manager HPS Investment Partners in approximately $12 billion deal

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BlackRock is buying credit investment manager HPS Investment Partners in a stock deal valued at about $12 billion, giving it more ways to service its insurance clients.

BlackRock said Tuesday that the transaction includes equity issued by a subsidiary, and that the equity can be exchanged on a one-for-one basis into BlackRock common stock. The company said the transaction creates an integrated private credit franchise with approximately $220 billion in client assets.

HPS has approximately $148 billion in client assets and is an independent provider of private credit for insurance clients. BlackRock said that the acquisition of HPS will position it to be a full-service, fiduciary provider of public-private asset management and technology solutions for insurance clients.

BlackRock and HPS will create a new private financing solutions division.

“Today marks an important milestone in our drive to become the world’s leading provider of private financing solutions,” HPS CEO Scott Kapnick said in a statement. “Our partnership with BlackRock will further strengthen our position in this fast growing but increasingly competitive market.”

HPS is one of several acquisitions BlackRock has made this year. In January the New York company announced that it was buying independent infrastructure fund manager Global Infrastructure Partners in a cash-and-stock deal valued at more than $12 billion. That transaction was completed in October.

BlackRock then announced in June that it was buying private markets data provider Preqin in an approximately $3.2 billion deal. The acquisition is targeted to close before the end of the year.

The transaction with HPS is expected to close mid-2025.