In New York, Global credit investment manager BlackRock has announced it is acquiring HPS Investment Partners for approximately $12 billion, with 100% of consideration paid in BlackRock equity.
BlackRock said in its statement: “The future of fixed income is building public and private portfolios to optimize liquidity, yield, and diversification. This transaction will bring together BlackRock’s strong corporate and asset owner relationships with HPS’s diversified origination and capital flexibility. The combined private credit franchise will work side-by-side with BlackRock’s $3 trillion public fixed income business to provide both public and private income solutions for clients across their whole portfolios.
“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,” said Laurence D. Fink, BlackRock Chairman and CEO.
BlackRock continued: Durable global growth will require higher volumes of debt financing and markets are increasingly looking to private capital as an answer. The addition of HPS will position BlackRock to connect companies of all sizes, from small and medium-sized businesses to large corporations, with financing for investments that support economic growth and job creation.
Also read: Credit and Fixed Income Outlook for 2025
Market forces, technology, and regulation are consistently moving financial activity to where it can be done most efficiently, making private credit a structural growth segment. BlackRock expects the private debt market will more than double to $4.5 trillion by 2030. The duration, returns, and yield characteristics of private credit match the needs of clients with long-dated capital, including insurance companies, pensions, sovereign wealth funds, wealth managers, and investors saving for retirement.
BlackRock and HPS will form a new private financing solutions business unit led by Scott Kapnick, Scot French, and Michael Patterson. This combined platform will have broad capabilities across senior and junior credit solutions, asset-based finance, real estate, private placements, and CLOs. To develop a full-service financing solution for alternative asset managers, the business will unite direct lending, fund finance, and BlackRock’s GP and LP solutions (fund of funds, GP/LP secondaries, co-investments). This combination creates an integrated solution for clients and borrowers across corporate and asset-based finance, investment and non-investment grade and private credit.
