BlackRock has announced that it will acquire Global Infrastructure Partners for $3 billion and 12 million shares of Blackrock stock.

Founded in 2006, the independent infrastructure investor Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) manages over $100 billion in client assets across infrastructure equity and debt, with a focus on energy, transport, water and waste, and digital sectors. The GIP management team, led by Bayo Ogunlesi, will lead the combined infrastructure platform.

Laurence D. Fink, BlackRock Chairman and CEO, says, “infrastructure is one of the most exciting long-term investment opportunities, as a number of structural shifts re-shape the global economy. We believe the expansion of both physical and digital infrastructure will continue to accelerate, as governments prioritize self-sufficiency and security through increased domestic industrial capacity, energy independence, and onshoring or near-shoring of critical sectors. Policymakers are only just beginning to implement once-in-a-generation financial incentives for new infrastructure technologies and projects.”

Bayo Ogunlesi, GIP Founding Partner, Chairman, and CEO, says, “I’m excited about the power of this combination and the prospect of working with Larry and his talented team. We share with BlackRock a culture of collaboration, client focus, investment partnership, and commitment to excellence. Investors have adopted private infrastructure investing for its ability to provide stable cashflows, less correlated returns, and a hedge against inflation. Global corporates have turned to private infrastructure as a fast innovator and a more commercially agile owner of infrastructure assets that aren’t core to their commercial businesses. This platform is set to be the preeminent, one-stop infrastructure solutions provider for global corporates and the public sector, mobilizing long-term private capital through long-standing firm relationships. We are convinced that together we can create the world’s premier infrastructure investment firm.”

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