UK Competition Watchdog Launches Inquiry into BlackRock-Preqin Deal

The United Kingdom's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced on Tuesday that it is initiating an inquiry into BlackRock Inc.'s acquisition of financial data firm Preqin Ltd. The CMA will examine whether the deal could result in a "substantial lessening" of competition in British markets and is inviting stakeholders to submit comments by December 17.

BlackRock announced the acquisition in late June, stating it intends to pay around $3.2 billion in cash. The company argued that Preqin's data and research tools are complementary to its own Aladdin portfolio management software, and that combining them into a single platform would "create a preeminent private markets technology and data provider."