Craig S. Phillips, managing director and global head of the financial markets advisory group in BlackRock Solutions, says his company is looking to integrate Helix's 120 professionals into BlackRock Solutions' modeling, advisory, valuation and loan workout practice. "In addition to valuable industry relationships and asset class experience, Helix has unique technology, data and intellectual capital that will supplement our present commercial real estate analytics and workout capabilities," he says.

In a separate release from Dallas-based Allbridge Investments, which acquired Helix in 2008, managing partner Larry Brown says his firm acquired Helix "at a time of unprecedented distress in the mortgage markets and provided the firm with both the critical economic stability, as well as the additional technical resources necessary to help position the company into the attractive asset BlackRock has sought." He adds that the acquisition by BlackRock provides Helix's management team and their credit analytics and underwriting products with "new avenues for growth."

For his part, Phillips says "AllBridge was integral to the repositioning of the Helix platform" and that BlackRock looks forward to "an important client relationship" with Allbridge. Helix will continue to provide advisory, credit and underwriting support to AllBridge following the acquisition, according to BlackRock.