Bloomberg: BlackRock to Buy Swiss Re Ltd. Private Equity Partners AG for Asia Business Expansion

Laurence Fink

(Bloomberg) BlackRock Inc. (BLK), the world’s largest asset manager, will buy Swiss Re Ltd. (SREN)’s Private Equity Partners AG for an undisclosed amount to extend its investments into infrastructure.

Swiss Re’s $7.5 billion European private equity and infrastructure fund of funds unit will be integrated with BlackRock’s existing business, the New York-based firm said today in an e-mailed statement. Those funds include a “significant” commitment from Swiss Re.

Laurence D. Fink, who co-founded BlackRock in 1988, has built the firm through a series of acquisitions, including the 2006 purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co.’s investment unit. BlackRock last year expanded the alternatives division, which manages hedge funds, real estate funds and private-equity strategies, and the Swiss Re acquisition extends the company’s capabilities into infrastructure investing.

Hedge Fund Review: People Moves in Asia

Philipp Hildebrand has been appointed Vice Chairman of BlackRock

(Hedge Fund Review) The following are excerpts from Hedge Fund Review’s “People Moves“:

Philipp Hildebrand has been appointed as vice-chairman of BlackRock, overseeing the company’s largest institutional client relationships in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asia-Pacific. His appointment is effective from October. Hildebrand brings almost 20 years of experience across asset management and banking, most recently as chairman of the Swiss National Bank. He will report directly to chairman and chief executive officer Laurence Fink. Hildebrand will serve as a member of the global executive committee, as well as its EMEA and Asia-Pacific executive committees and be based in London.