Barclays Shareholders Approve BGI Sale To BlackRock
2009年8月6日 - 10:09PM
Dow Jones News
Barclays PLC (BCS) shareholders Thursday agreed to the $13
billion sale of the bank's Barclays Global Investors unit to
BlackRock Inc. (BLK), making BlackRock the world's biggest money
manager and giving several Barclays executives multi-million dollar
payoffs.
At a shareholder meeting in London, 99.9% of shareholders voting
agreed to the cash and shares transaction, which had been announced
in June after a bidding war for BGI and its iShares business.
On completion of the deal by the end of the year, Barclays will
get GBP4.1 billion in cash and will keep a 19.9% stake in BGI.
BGI is one of the world's largest money managers, with $1.44
trillion invested for clients, much of it in so-called "passive"
funds that track market indexes.
Combined with BlackRock's $1.3 trillion under management, the
new group - called BlackRock Global Investors - will be about
double the size of its nearest competitors, State Street Global and
Fidelity Investments.
The sale means a big payday for Barclays executives who cashed
in shares they held in BGI under a management incentive plan.
Barclays President Bob Diamond stands to get $36 million, and he
will also take a seat on BlackRock's board along with Barclays
Chief Executive John Varley.
Barclays put iShares - part of BGI - up for sale earlier this
year to boost its capital position amid the financial crisis. It
received a $4.4 billion offer from European private-equity firm CVC
Capital Partners, but BlackRock made a better offer for the whole
BGI business during a go-sho period agreed with CVC that let
Barclays seek other bids.
iShares is the world's largest provider of exchange-traded
funds, or ETFs, that trade on exchanges like regular stocks to give
investors easy and inexpensive access to a range of markets and
types of assets.
Barclays reported Monday that pretax profits at BGI rose 4% in
the first half of 2009, to GBP276 million from GBP265 million.
Profits would have been higher but were hit by a $175 million
breakfee paid to CVC.
Standard & Poor's Corp. in June said the BGI sale was
"marginally positive" for Barclays' credit profile, as the addition
of GBP4.1 billion cash to its tier 1 ratio would outweigh lower
future earnings and reduced diversification in its operations.
Barclays reported a 7.1% tier 1 ratio at June 20, 2009, which
will rise to 8.8% after the BGI transaction completes.
Company Web site: http://www.barclays.com
-By Margot Patrick, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)20 7842 9451;
margot.patrick@dowjones.com