BlackRock takes to the blue-chip bond market for Preqin deal funding

A unit of BlackRock Inc. is selling $2.5 billion of US investment-grade bonds on Wednesday to help fund a portion of the firm’s $3.2 billion acquisition of private-markets data business Preqin.

BlackRock Funding Inc. is selling notes in three parts, according to a person familiar with the matter. The longest portion of the deal matures in 30 years and will yield one percentage point above Treasuries, the person said, asking not to be identified as the details are private, after initial talks in the area of 1.25 percentage points.

A spokesperson for BlackRock declined to comment.

The bond sale comes less than a month after the world’s largest money manager agreed to acquire London-based Preqin, expanding its reach within the fast-growing world of private markets investing. It would be the second such major acquisition for BlackRock this year, after announcing in January that it agreed to buy Global Infrastructure Partners for about $12.5 billion.

The Preqin acquisition is expected to close by the end of this year. Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo & Co. are leading the bond sale. 

The three-year portion of the offering comes with a so-called special mandatory redemption clause, meaning if the acquisition fails to close by Sept. 2, 2025, BlackRock will buy back the notes at 101%. 

Earlier this month, Moody’s Corp. lowered its outlook on BlackRock to negative from stable due to concerns over the firm’s increased debt and leverage ratios as a result of its GIP and Preqin acquisitions.