GlobeSt.com UPDATE: BlackRock Completes SSRM Acquisition

NEW YORK CITY-Locally based BlackRock Inc. has completed its acquisition of SSRM Holdings, the holding company of Boston-based State Street Research & Management Co. and SSR Realty Advisors Inc., from MetLife. As part of the deal, which was first announced in August, the firms’ open-end mutual fund families–SSR Funds and BlackRock Funds–were merged. SSRM had $52 billion comprised of $26 billion in fixed income, $20 billion in equity and $6 billion in real estate.

“Since we announced the acquisition in August 2004, we have become more enthusiastic about the potential of the combined firm,” says Laurence D. Fink, BlackRock’s chairman and CEO. “Our new colleagues will enhance our US equity and alternative investment platforms, expand our mutual fund distribution efforts, and augment our fixed income and cash management capabilities.”

Fink has been bullish about the real estate aspects of the acquisition. “We see a lot of opportunity in real estate equity,” he said during a conference call dealing with the acquisition. “We believe we will be able to expand the real estate equity portfolio.”