Moody's affirms BlackRock

Moody's Investors Service said it affirmed the A1 long-term senior debt rating and the P-1 short-term issuer rating of BlackRock, Inc. following the company's announcement of its plan to acquire Barclays Global Investors.

The outlook is stable.

The acquisition will be partially funded with new debt financing.

The agency said that a combined BlackRock-Barclays Global Investors franchise (to be named BlackRock Global Investors) would result in multiple sectors of investment management leadership that, if well executed, would lift the combined firm's market position.

At the same time, Moody's said the affirmation with a stable outlook recognizes the challenges of a large-scale integration and the need to satisfy the combined firm's constituents with limited disruption. Eliminating acquisition uncertainties and clearly demonstrating how BlackRock's investors and customers could benefit from the combination could lead to upward rating pressure, the agency said.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.