BlackRock is to acquire private credit specialist firm HPS Investment Partners for $12bn, with 100% of consideration paid in BlackRock equity.
The deal, which bring some $148bn in client assets to the table, will create a combined private credit franchise with approximately $220bn in client assets. The new business arm, which will be led by HPS co-founders Scott Kapnick, Scot French, and Michael Patterson, will offer services across senior and junior credit solutions, real estate, private placements, CLOs and asset-based finance. It will dovetail alongside BlackRock’s $3trn public fixed income business.
The purchase follows BlackRock’s belief that the private debt market will more than double to $4.5trn by 2030.
Larry Fink, BlackRock chair and CEO, said: “I am excited by what HPS and BlackRock can do together for our clients and look forward to welcoming Scott Kapnick, Scot French, and Michael Patterson, along with the entire HPS team, to BlackRock. We have always sought to position ourselves ahead of our clients’ needs.
“Together with the scale, capabilities, and expertise of the HPS team, BlackRock will deliver clients solutions that seamlessly blend public and private.”
