About BlackRock
BlackRock is one of the world's largest publicly traded investment management firms with employees in 21 countries throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia Pacific. With offices located around the globe, we are able to offer clients in-depth local knowledge and understanding, while leveraging the strength of our global presence and infrastructure to deliver focused investment solutions. Today, BlackRock services clients in more than 60 countries.
Barclays Accepts BlackRock Offer to Acquire BGI
BlackRock, Inc. announced on June 16, 2009, that it has received written notice from Barclays PLC (“Barclays”) that Barclays’ Board of Directors has accepted BlackRock’s offer to acquire Barclays Global Investors (“BGI”). Barclays also notified BlackRock that its Board will recommend the transaction to Barclays’ shareholders for approval at a special meeting to be held in early August 2009.
Barclays’ acceptance of BlackRock’s offer followed satisfaction of the provisions required under a “go-shop” arrangement with respect to an offer previously received by Barclays for iShares, BGI’s ETF platform.
The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter 2009 following approval by Barclays’ shareholders, the receipt of client consents and regulatory approvals, and satisfaction of customary closing conditions.
BlackRock® is a premier provider of global investment management, risk management and advisory services to institutional and retail clients around the world. As of 31 March 2009, BlackRock's assets under management total US$1.28 trillion across equity, fixed income, cash management, alternative investment and real estate strategies. Through BlackRock Solutions® - the natural evolution of our long-standing investment in developing sophisticated and highly integrated systems - we offer risk management, strategic advisory and enterprise investment system services to a broad base of clients with portfolios totaling approximately US$7 trillion as of 31 March 2009.
Since our founding in 1988, BlackRock has come to be known as a problem solver. In times of need, some of the world’s most prominent private and public institutions have turned to BlackRock and our fiduciary mindset, depth in the capital markets, world-class risk management, sophisticated analytics and solutions-driven culture.
BlackRock is a truly global enterprise. We serve clients in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Japan, Australia and the Middle East. Headquartered in New York, the firm maintains offices in 21 countries around the world. BlackRock has long focused on a cross-disciplinary team approach in which clients benefit from the pooled expertise of the firm's resources: our investment and risk management professionals and our internally developed analytical tools. In addition to excellent performance, BlackRock is committed to delivering a high level of service tailored to the needs of each client. BlackRock's client base includes corporate, public, union and industry pension plans; insurance companies; third-party mutual funds; endowments; foundations; charities; corporations; official institutions; banks; and individuals worldwide.
BlackRock is independent in ownership and governance, with no single majority stockholder and a majority of independent directors. Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation, and The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. own approximately 4.8% and 46.4% of BlackRock’s voting common stock, respectively, and approximately 47.4% and 31.5% of BlackRock’s capital stock on a fully diluted basis, respectively. The remaining approximately 21.1% of the capital stock is held by employees and the public.