Ardonagh backer to be acquired in $12bn deal

BlackRock has agreed to acquire Ardonagh backer HPS Investment Partners for around $12bn (£9.41bn).

HPS, which has $148bn (£116bn) in client assets, first invested in Ardonagh in 2015 and has continued to put money into the broker.

In 2021, HPS and fellow Ardonagh shareholder Madison Dearborn Partners led an equity investment round that valued the broker at $7.5bn (£5.9bn) at the time.

BlackRock said its takeover of HPS was designed to deliver “integrated solutions across public and private markets” and would “deepen its capabilities for insurance clients”.

The transaction is expected to close in mid-2025.

Scott Kapnick, HPS’ chief executive, said: “Our partnership with BlackRock will further strengthen our position in this fast growing but increasingly competitive market.

“The combination of HPS’s proven culture of investment discipline with BlackRock’s global reach will allow us to seize new opportunities for our investors and employees and set us up for continued success for the next decade and beyond.”

Moves

As part of the deal, HPS partner Scot French, who is also a non-executive director at Ardonagh, will join BlackRock’s executive team.

He will also work with Kapnick to form a new private financing solutions business unit.

Laurence D. Fink, BlackRock chairman and chief executive, said he was looking forward to welcoming the HPS team to his firm.

He said: “We have always sought to position ourselves ahead of our clients’ needs.

“Together with the scale, capabilities and expertise of the HPS team, BlackRock will deliver clients solutions that seamlessly blend public and private.”