BlackRock said Friday it will buy fund manager Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) in a deal worth $12.5 billion, and posted an 8% rise in its quarterly profit helped by a rebound in markets that boosted the company's assets under management.
The world's largest asset manager said it will buy GIP for $3 billion in cash and roughly 12 million Blackrock shares to create an investing platform with more than $150 billion in combined assets.
Founded in 2006, GIP manages over $100 billion in client assets across infrastructure equity and debt, with a focus on energy, transport, water and waste, and digital sectors.
Hopes of a soft landing - a scenario where inflation eases without a sharp rise in unemployment - have cheered U.S. markets in recent months.
A dovish tilt from the U.S. Federal Reserve, which has left interest rates unchanged since July, also boosted sentiment, helping BlackRock end the fourth quarter with $10.01 trillion in assets under management (AUM), up from $8.59 trillion a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, the world's largest asset manager earned $1.45 billion, or $9.66 per share, for the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with $1.36 billion, or $8.93 per share, a year earlier.
Analysts on average had expected a profit of $8.84 per share, according to LSEG data.