BlackRock is buying credit investment manager HPS Investment Partners in a stock deal valued at about $12 billion, giving it more ways to service its insurance clients.
BlackRock said Tuesday that the transaction includes equity issued by a subsidiary, and that the equity can be exchanged on a one-for-one basis into BlackRock common stock. The company said the transaction creates an integrated private credit franchise with approximately $220 billion in client assets.
HPS has approximately $148 billion in client assets and is an independent provider of private credit for insurance clients. BlackRock said that the acquisition of HPS will position it to be a full-service, fiduciary provider of public-private asset management and technology solutions for insurance clients.
BlackRock and HPS will create a new private financing solutions division.
“Today marks an important milestone in our drive to become the world’s leading provider of private financing solutions,” HPS CEO Scott Kapnick said in a statement. “Our partnership with BlackRock will further strengthen our position in this fast growing but increasingly competitive market.”
HPS is one of several acquisitions BlackRock has made this year. In January the New York company announced that it was buying independent infrastructure fund manager Global Infrastructure Partners in a cash-and-stock deal valued at more than $12 billion. That transaction was completed in October.
BlackRock then announced in June that it was buying private markets data provider Preqin in an approximately $3.2 billion deal. The acquisition is targeted to close before the end of the year.
The transaction with HPS is expected to close mid-2025.
FILE - People walk in and out of the BlackRock investment company building in New York on March 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, file)
DUESSELDORF, Germany (AP) — Borussia Dortmund hoped that reaching the Champions League final would lay a platform for further success. Instead, it's gone backward.
Firing coach Nuri Sahin on Wednesday was largely seen as inevitable after one win from the last nine games, but there's no clear path to a turnaround.
Youth coach Mike Tullberg will take charge against Werder Bremen on Saturday in the Bundesliga while Dortmund searches for Sahin's replacement. Reports in Germany identified the favorite as ex-Bayern Munich and Monaco coach Niko Kovac but he told Austrian TV on Wednesday, “No one has spoken to me.”
Whoever does take over will inherit an underperforming squad on course for its worst league placing in years.
Here's a look at what's gone wrong for one of Germany's most storied soccer clubs:
With Dortmund 10th in the Bundesliga, it's on track to miss out on the Champions League next season for the first time in a decade.
Sahin, in charge since June, had rocky patches early in his tenure but things were going from bad to worse with four straight losses to start 2025.
His fan favorite status as an ex-Dortmund player and close relationships with senior players may have bought him time.
Even before Sahin took charge, Dortmund's run to the Champions League final arguably masked underlying issues.
Dortmund placed fifth in the Bundesliga last season under Edin Terzic, who resigned at the end of the season, and was arguably fortunate to beat Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League semifinals after PSG repeatedly hit the post and crossbar.
Last Friday, Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl pledged Sahin his full support. Five days later, Sahin was gone.
The apparent hesitation as Dortmund slid down the table over the last month was a contrast to the ruthlessness shown to former coaches. Lucien Favre was fired in December 2020 when Dortmund was fifth, and Peter Bosz lasted five months in 2017.
The difficulties also come at a time when Dortmund's long-term strategy is uncertain. Chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke is leaving later this year after 20 years.
Dortmund used to develop Europe's best young players such as Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham and Jadon Sancho. Now it's fighting to keep up.
Dortmund's German rivals Bayer Leverkusen and Leipzig are competing for the best youngsters and Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz is one of the most in-demand players in world soccer.
The 20-year-old English winger Jamie Gittens is having a strong season with 11 goals from 27 games but Dortmund's youth teams are no longer packed with first-team-ready talent.
When teens have covered for injured first-team players this season they've struggled, and players once considered Dortmund's future haven't developed as planned. Injuries have disrupted 22-year-old U.S. attacking midfielder Gio Reyna, while striker Youssoufa Moukoko has scored only twice all season on loan at Nice.
Money isn't the problem at Dortmund after its lucrative Champions League run last season and the promise of millions more at the Club World Cup in the United States.
The issue has been who to spend it on.
Dortmund has relied heavily on experienced names such as Emre Can, Pascal Gross, Marcel Sabitzer and, until he was injured, Niklas Süle. The squad that reached the Champions League final last season was one of the oldest in the competition, too.
After striker Niclas Füllkrug, signed at 29 and now at West Ham, was a success at Dortmund, the club signed a string of older, late-blooming players based largely on Bundesliga form, with mixed results.
Since the start of last season, Dortmund's only permanent first-team signing from outside the German league is 33-year-old former Brighton midfielder Gross.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Dortmund players run during a training one day ahead of their Champions League soccer match against FC Bologna, in Dortmund, Germany, Monday Jan. 20, 2025. (Federico Gambarini/dpa/dpa via AP)
Borussia's coach Nuri Sahin looks on during the Champions League soccer match between Bologna and Dortmund at Renato Dall'Ara Stadium, in Bologna, Italy, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (Michele Nucci/LaPresse via AP)
Dortmund's players react after the Bundesliga soccer match between Holstein Kiel and Borussia Dortmund at the Holstein Stadium in Kiel, Germany, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (Gregor Fischer/dpa via AP)
