BlackRock, Inc.
Acquisitions
8
Major Deals Covered
$43.9B
Disclosed Deal Value
BlackRock's largest disclosed acquisition here is Barclays Global Investors (BGI) and iShares for $13.5B in 2009. This page covers 8 major deals from 2005 to 2025, each with its price where disclosed and the reason behind it.
| Company | Year | Price | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Street Research & Management | 2005 | $375.0M | Bought from MetLife to add equity mutual funds and retail distribution to a firm that was still mostly a bond manager. |
| Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM) | 2006 | Undisclosed | Combined with Merrill Lynch's asset management arm in exchange for a stake of nearly half of BlackRock, adding equity, retail and international businesses. |
| Barclays Global Investors (BGI) and iShares | 2009 | $13.5B | Barclays sold BGI during the financial crisis to raise capital. The deal was announced at $13.5 billion in cash and stock and valued at about $15.2 billion at closing. |
| eFront | 2019 | $1.3B | Bought from Bridgepoint for about $1.3 billion in cash to add alternative investment management software to Aladdin. |
| Aperio Group | 2021 | $1.1B | Added tax-managed custom indexing for wealthy clients and their advisors. |
| Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) | 2024 | $12.5B | Paid $3 billion in cash and about 12 million shares to buy one of the largest independent infrastructure managers. |
| Preqin | 2025 | $3.2B | Bought the private markets data provider for £2.55 billion (about $3.2 billion) in cash to pair data with Aladdin. |
| HPS Investment Partners | 2025 | $12.0B | Bought the private credit manager for about $12 billion, paid entirely in BlackRock stock and units. |
2025
$3.2B
Bought the private markets data provider for £2.55 billion (about $3.2 billion) in cash to pair data with Aladdin.
Added subscription data revenue and helped lift 2025 technology revenue 24%.
Closed in March 2025.
2025
$12.0B
Bought the private credit manager for about $12 billion, paid entirely in BlackRock stock and units.
Made BlackRock one of the largest private credit managers; HPS contributed about $230 million of base fees and securities lending revenue plus $115 million of performance fees in Q2 2026.
Closed July 1, 2025. The deal also brought exposure to the telecom receivables fraud case HPS is pursuing.
2024
$12.5B
Paid $3 billion in cash and about 12 million shares to buy one of the largest independent infrastructure managers.
Made infrastructure a core BlackRock business; GIP CEO Adebayo Ogunlesi joined BlackRock's leadership.
GIP led or co-led the $40 billion Aligned Data Centers deal (closed July 2026) and the pending $33.4 billion AES takeover.
2021
$1.1B
Added tax-managed custom indexing for wealthy clients and their advisors.
Gave BlackRock a direct indexing platform to compete with Vanguard, Schwab and Morgan Stanley in separately managed accounts.
Aperio AUM approached $200 billion by Q2 2026.
2019
$1.3B
Bought from Bridgepoint for about $1.3 billion in cash to add alternative investment management software to Aladdin.
Extended Aladdin from public markets into private equity, real estate and private debt.
eFront is now part of BlackRock's technology services revenue, which reached about $2.0 billion in 2025.
2009
$13.5B
Barclays sold BGI during the financial crisis to raise capital. The deal was announced at $13.5 billion in cash and stock and valued at about $15.2 billion at closing.
Made BlackRock the world's largest asset manager and brought iShares, index investing and securities lending at scale.
iShares became BlackRock's main growth engine, taking in about $527 billion of net inflows in 2025 alone.
2006
Combined with Merrill Lynch's asset management arm in exchange for a stake of nearly half of BlackRock, adding equity, retail and international businesses.
Roughly doubled BlackRock's size and gave it a global retail presence through Merrill's brokerage network.
Turned BlackRock into a full-service manager; the Merrill stake later passed to Bank of America, which sold it in 2011.
2005
$375M
Bought from MetLife to add equity mutual funds and retail distribution to a firm that was still mostly a bond manager.
Broadened BlackRock's fund lineup ahead of the much larger MLIM merger.
Completed in January 2005 for about $375 million in cash and stock.
Growth now comes from four places. Private markets: GIP (closed October 2024, about $12.5 billion), HPS Investment Partners (closed July 2025, about $12 billion in stock) and ElmTree (2025) made BlackRock a major infrastructure and private credit manager, and GIP helped lead the $40 billion Aligned Data Centers purchase that closed in July 2026. Technology: Aladdin, eFront and Preqin data, with technology revenue up 13% year over year in Q2 2026. ETFs: iShares took in $310 billion of net inflows in the first half of 2026, and iShares Europe reached $1.5 trillion. Wealth and retirement: Aperio custom indexing (close to $200 billion), LifePath Paycheck ($30 billion) and digital asset products such as the iShares Bitcoin Trust.
BlackRock makes money in three main ways. The largest is base management and administration fees, charged as a percentage of the assets it runs across iShares ETFs, index and active funds, cash funds and institutional mandates. The second is technology services and subscription revenue from Aladdin, eFront and Preqin, which reached about $2.0 billion in 2025, up 24%. The third is performance fees and securities lending revenue, which swing with markets and fund results; performance fees rose to $305 million in Q2 2026 after HPS's private credit funds were added. Core iShares funds charge as little as 0.03% a year, so the index business depends on enormous scale, while private markets and technology earn far more per dollar. Management wants those two areas to supply more than 30% of revenue by 2030.
BlackRock agreed in June 2009 to buy BGI from Barclays for $13.5 billion in cash and stock and closed on December 1, 2009, when the deal was valued at about $15.2 billion. It brought iShares and made BlackRock the world's largest asset manager.
In September 2006, BlackRock merged with Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM) in a transformational transaction giving Merrill Lynch a 49.8% minority stake in BlackRock and expanding BlackRock's equity and international retail fund footprint.
In January 2024, BlackRock announced the acquisition of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) for $3 billion cash and 12 million shares of BLK stock, adding over $100 billion in infrastructure AUM across major airports (Gatwick, Sydney), ports, and clean energy platforms.
BlackRock announced the £2.55 billion (about $3.2 billion) cash purchase of Preqin in June 2024 and completed it in March 2025, adding private markets data to Aladdin.
In January 2005, BlackRock acquired State Street Research & Management from MetLife for $375 million in cash and stock, expanding its equity mutual fund offerings and deepening wealth distribution.
In February 2021, BlackRock completed the $1.05 billion cash acquisition of Aperio, a pioneer in customized Separately Managed Accounts (SMAs), expanding BlackRock's personalized direct indexing platform for high-net-worth wealth advisors.
In May 2019, BlackRock acquired alternative investment management software company eFront for $1.3 billion in cash from Bridgepoint, smoothly bridging private equity, real estate, and private debt reporting directly into the Aladdin ecosystem.
BlackRock agreed in December 2024 to buy private credit manager HPS for about $12 billion in stock and closed the deal on July 1, 2025.
In the deal of the century, BlackRock acquired Barclays Global Investors in 2009 for just $13.5 billion, instantly giving them ownership of "iShares" and creating an absolute global monopoly in passive ETF investing.
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