BlackRock to Acquire Credit Suisse ETF Business: Report
BlackRock (BLK), which manages the iShares exchange traded funds, is in a deal to acquire the European ETF business of Credit Suisse (CS), according to a report Wednesday.
BlackRock won the bidding after Credit Suisse put the $17.6 billion ETF unit up for sale in October, Reuters reports.
Financial terms of the transaction weren’t included in the story but the deal was expected to be announced shortly, according to Reuters, which cited unidentified sources.
ETF provider State Street (STT) was among the companies bidding for the Credit Suisse business but it dropped out in December, the article said.
BlackRock’s iShares is the largest global ETF provider with 606 funds at the end of November, according to research firm ETFGI, and has a presence in Europe. Credit Suisse had 58 global ETFs with total assets of $17.3 billion in November.
BlackRock is the largest ETF manager in Europe with 202 iShares and about $140 billion in assets, according to the Reuters report.
In the U.S., BlackRock’s iShares reclaimed the asset flows crown from Vanguard with 2012 inflows of nearly $61 billion after trailing Vanguard for two years, according to Morningstar.
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