Barclays to sell entire $6.1-bn stake in BlackRock
21 May 2012
UK's Barclays Bank today said it plans to sell its entire stake worth $6.1 billion in US asset manager BlackRock Inc.
Barclays, one of the largest shareholders in the Manhattan, New York-based company, holds common stock and Series B convertible participating preferred stock together representing a 19.6-per cent stake.
It received the stake in 2009 after selling its own asset management firm Barclays Global Investors to BlackRock for $13.5 billion in a cash and stock deal. (See: BlackRock to acquire Barclays Global Investors for $13.5 billion)
The London-based bank said that BlackRock has agreed to repurchase up to $1 billion of its stock conditional on completion of the offering.
In September 2011 Barclays' investment in BlackRock was written down to a fair value of £3.4 billion.
The market value of Barclay's investment in BlackRock, based on the closing price of BlackRock common stock on 18 May at $171.91 and assuming conversion of preferred stock, was $6.1 billion (£3.8 billion).