BlackRock Announces Secondary Offering of its Common Stock held by Barclays; Plans $1 Billion Stock Repurchase

BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK) today announced the commencement of a secondary offering of its common stock through which Barclays Bank PLC intends to exit its full investment in the Company. The shares being offered by Barclays will be sold in an underwritten public secondary offering. Barclays also expects to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase an additional 10% of the shares offered. Barclays currently holds common stock and Series B convertible participating preferred stock in BlackRock, which converts into common stock upon a sale, together representing a 19.6% (approximately 35.2 million shares) economic ownership interest in the Company. BlackRock also announced today that immediately following the close of the secondary offering and subject to Barclays exiting its full ownership position (excluding the exercise of the option) the Company intends to repurchase $1 billion of common stock directly from Barclays. The purchase price to be paid by BlackRock would be equal to the net price per share that Barclays receives in the secondary offering. BlackRock will purchase a proportionally smaller amount in the event of a sale of fewer shares by Barclays.