Rolled newspaper with the headline Alternative Investments
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BlackRock Inc. has completed its acquisition of independent private markets data provider Preqin, the asset manager announced Monday.

The strategic deal “strengthens BlackRock’s ability to serve clients’ whole portfolios — across public and private markets — by combining investment, technology, and data solutions in one platform,” the firm said in a release. It also brings BlackRock one step further in establishing dominance in the global private markets.

The acquisition comes at a time when private markets are rapidly growing — Preqin has projected that alternative assets will reach US$30 trillion by the end of the decade. Preqin provides information on 210,000 private market funds and has more than 220,000 users including asset managers, insurers, pensions, wealth managers and banks.

Rob Goldstein, BlackRock’s chief operating officer, said the acquisition will support the needs of investors who are seeking robust private markets data to inform their investment decisions.

“Today clients are seeking a ‘common language’ for investing that requires better data to drive investment decisions, manage risk, and construct portfolios,” Goldstein said in the release.

“With Preqin, a part of BlackRock, we will seek to meet this need, accelerating clients’ ability to allocate to the growth of private markets and furthering our aspirations to deliver greater value across their whole portfolios.”

As part of the deal, Preqin will operate independently for now, while its benchmarks will be accessible within BlackRock’s Aladdin fintech platform. Over time, BlackRock said it will integrate Preqin’s proprietary data and research tools with Aladdin and eFront, its alternative investments software solution, under a unified investment framework.

Preqin founder Mark O’Hare has also joined BlackRock as a vice-chair.

Of the deal, O’Hare said in the release: “For decades, investors in private markets have lacked the robust data they need to make fully informed decisions and incorporate private assets into their portfolios at scale. By marrying Preqin with BlackRock’s technology offering, we are even better placed to tackle this challenge and help clients build more diverse, resilient portfolios by delivering the transparency and insights they seek.”

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.