Alleged takeover talks between Morgan Stanley and institutional money manager BlackRock have reportedly been called off due to a runup in BlackRock’s stock price, CNBC reported on Feb. 1. Shares of BlackRock (BLK) have risen 11 percent since the rumors began on Jan. 21, closing at $133 per share on Tuesday Jan.31. Talks could resume, however, if BlackRock’s price comes down, CNBC said, citing sources close to the deal.
PNC Group owns a 70 percent stake in BlackRock common stock and controls 84 percent of the voting power. BlackRock, which is best known for its bond funds, has $428 billion in assets under management. Morgan Stanley’s asset management division has $434 billion in assets under management. The BlackRock CEO, Laurence D. Fink, and Morgan Stanley CEO, John Mack, are reportedly close friends.
The BlackRock deal is just one of ten growth options being considered by Mack, and there is only a 50 percent chance of a deal getting done, according sources cited in a Jan. 21 report in The Wall Street Journal.
For more details on the rumored deal, see this Jan. 23 story from Registered Rep: http://registeredrep.com/news/morgan-blackrock-swap/.
