BlackRock To Buy EFront For $1.3 Bln - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - BlackRock (BLK) announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of the equity interests in eFront, an end-to-end alternative investment management software and solutions provider, from private equity firm Bridgepoint and eFront employees, for $1.3 billion in cash. Following completion of the notification and consultation process with eFront's employee-works council, BlackRock and eFront's shareholders are expected to enter into a definitive securities sale agreement.

eFront, which serves more than 700 clients in 48 countries, is a technology solution for managing the alternatives investment lifecycle, from due diligence and portfolio planning to performance and risk analysis, across a range of alternative asset classes.

BlackRock stated that the eFront transaction will be funded with a combination of existing corporate liquidity and debt. While minimally dilutive to earnings per share, the transaction will not be dilutive on a cash basis, the company noted.

"Technology and illiquid alternatives are two pillars of BlackRock's growth, and this transaction provides a unique opportunity to accelerate our positioning in both," said Laurence Fink, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock.

Separately, BlackRock announced, on March 20, the company entered into an agreement to repurchase approximately 3.1 million of its shares at a per share price of $412.84 in a private transaction under its existing repurchase program. The share repurchase transaction is expected to close on March 25.

BlackRock stated that, as of March 25, it will have repurchased an aggregate of approximately $1.6 billion of its shares in 2019 and will have completed the targeted level of share repurchases for the year, but will remain opportunistic should relative valuation opportunities arise.