Blackrock: Biggest asset manager takes first step into financial data with £2.55bn Preqin deal

Blackrock has agreed to buy financial data group Preqin for £2.55bn in cash, as the biggest asset manager in the world makes its first venture into financial information provision.

The acquisition, first reported by the Financial Times (FT) on Sunday, is the latest in a string of deals with specialised data providers, with an official announcement expected today.

Blackrock beat S&P Global and Bloomberg to the purchase in the company’s second significant acquisition in six months, having bought bought one of the world’s biggest infrastructure investors, Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), for $12.5bn in January.

The merged firms are set to create a $150bn infrastructure behemoth led by the GIP management team, spearheaded by chair Bayo Ogunlesi and four of its founding partners. The tie-up between the investors marked a major push into infrastructure for Blackrock.

Preqin was founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Mark O’Hare. It provides data on the private capital industry, such as tracking private equity and hedge fund performance, for clients including banks, asset managers and investment firms.

The sector has traded at a premium in recent years as the size of the private markets industry has swelled to more than $14tn (£11tn) in assets, according to the FT.

Preqin’s website claims the firm boasts the “biggest and most robust data set on private capital performance on the planet”, with 48,000 customers, a 500-strong research team and offices in 15 cities, including London, New York, Beijing and Dubai.