Deals & People June 8, 2009

BlackRock Confirms Discussions about Purchasing BGI

BlackRock, Inc., confirmed that it has been engaged in discussions with Barclays Bank about BlackRock's potential purchase of Barclays Global Investors (BGI), including the iShares business.
Reported by

The company said in a news release that negotiations are ongoing and there is no certainty that any transaction will be agreed upon or, if agreed upon, completed.

In April, Barclays announced a deal to sell its iShares business to CVC Capital for $4.4 billion, but it reserved the right to keep entertaining suitors until June 18 (see “Vanguard Offers $5B for iShares’).

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In May, Barclays said it had received “unsolicited interest” in BGI, as well as iShares, since the CVC deal was announced. Bloomberg reported inquiries for a broader deal from BlackRock and Bank of New York Mellon (see “Barclays Reportedly Considering Broader BGI Deal’).


Products June 8, 2009

Fidelity, KKR to Offer IPOs to Institutional Clients

Fidelity Investment's registered investment adviser (RIA) and broker/dealer clients, and other institutional clients, will be able to invest in initial public offerings (IPOs) underwritten by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts&Co. (KKR), the companies announced.
Reported by

A news release said investors will also have access to follow-on offerings of KKR companies.

“While it’s no secret that the IPO market has slowed over the last couple of years, we are beginning to see signs that it may be picking up momentum,” said Mark Haggerty, president of Fidelity Capital Markets, the institutional trading division of Fidelity Investments, in the news release. “Our new relationship with KKR gives Fidelity the ability to offer our retail, RIA, and broker/dealer clients unique access to new issue equity offerings of KKR portfolio companies and the potential for more meaningful allocations in those offerings.”

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