2023-09-29 10:32:08 ET
BlackRock ( NYSE: BLK ) CEO Larry Fink said on Friday that he sees "some very large opportunities for inorganic growth," meaning he's open to more big acquisitions, according to a media report.
The response came to a question about whether he would consider a purchase that transformed the company as much as its $15.2B acquisition of Barclays Global Investors in 2009, making it the world's biggest asset manager. That deal gave BlackRock ( BLK ) the iShares ETF business as well as quantitative strategies.
"We believe we have great opportunities to transform our company today," he said during an interview on Bloomberg Television.
When BlackRock bought BGI it had $2.9T in assets. Now it's at ~$9.5T, he said.
The company has been bolstering its private markets business as it pushes further into alternative.
When asked about transformative opportunities for the company, Fink spoke about working with governance. "I do believe we can help make a difference in building better societies. We can prepare societies better, working with governments, in terms of preparedness for elevated temperatures in the world."
While the world needs to move more rapidly toward de-carbonization, he's not proposing quitting fossil fuels cold turkey. "We believe that hydrocarbons are going to be with us a long, long time. That's why we're working with energy companies, not against energy companies," he said .
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BlackRock's Larry Fink sees 'great opportunities' to transform through acquisitions