Global Infrastructure Partners sold to BlackRock for $12.5 billion

Adebayo Ogunlesi’s Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) has been sold to American institutional investment company, BlackRock Inc. for $12.5 billion.

The deal is expected to be finalized in Q3 2024, and it involves a payment of $3 billion in cash and approximately 12 million shares. The shares are valued at around $9.5 billion based on January 11 closing prices.

Adebayo Ogunlesi is the Chairman and CEO of Global Infrastructure Partners, which is a global leading infrastructure funds manager.

The company manages a portfolio worth about $100 billion, and companies in its equity portfolio generate a combined annual revenue of $80 billion.

The company’s portfolio features Gatwick Airport, London City Airport, Port of Brisbane, Port of Melbourne, Sydney Airport, and Ruby Pipeline (680-mile gas pipeline in the US), among others.

According to Bloomberg, the deal between GIP and BlackRock Inc. is BlackRock’s largest deal since its acquisition of Barclays Global Investors in 2009, even as the company seeks to establish itself as a key player in the fast-growing market for private and alternative assets.

BlackRock Inc. is the world’s largest asset manager, with about $10 trillion Assets Under Management (AUM) as of FY 2023, up by 16% from the $8.59 trillion as of FY 2022. The company recorded a revenue of $4.6 billion in 2023.

Currently, equities and fixed-income assets make up about 70% of BlackRock’s assets, while alternative investments (asset classes that aren’t stocks, bonds, or cash) make up about 3% of its assets. However, according to Bloomberg, these alternative investments contribute about 10% of BlackRock’s revenue.

By combining GIP’s portfolio with BlackRock’s $50 billion infrastructure portfolio, BlackRock is positioned to become a major player in the infrastructure asset market.

Adebayo Ogunlesi is the son of Theophilus Ogunlesi, Nigeria’s first professor of Medicine. He is an alumnus of Oxford University, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics. He also holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.

He started Global Infrastructure Partners in 2006, with backing from Credit Suisse and General Electric Co. Before starting GIP, he spent 23 years at Credit Suisse where he rose to the position of Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Client Officer of the Investment Banking Division.

Ogunlesi is presently a member of the Board of Directors at Goldman Sachs. And with the sale of GIP, he is expected to join BlackRock’s board and global executive committee.