BlackRock commits up to $1bn annual investment in Santander loans

BlackRock has agreed to invest up to $1bn (£749m) per year in project finance, energy finance, and infrastructure debt opportunities with Santander through structured transaction formats.

The agreement follows an initial transaction whereby funds and accounts managed by BlackRock agreed to provide financing on a $600m diversified portfolio of infrastructure credit from Santander.

Read more: BlackRock revamps private credit business

“We are pleased to expand our longstanding relationship with Santander through this agreement, which will provide long-term, flexible capital on a recurring basis to support the growth of its project finance franchise,” said BlackRock vice chairman Gary Shedlin. “At the same time, this agreement will provide further access to attractive, differentiated investment opportunities for our clients now and over the long term.”

Santander chief financial officer Jose Garcia Cantera added: “This framework agreement with BlackRock will allow us to continue to proactively rotate our assets, further strengthening our financial position and allowing us to generate capital for additional profitable growth. We look forward to working with BlackRock through this expanded partnership.”

Read more: BlackRock: Infrastructure secondaries predicted to soar by 2027

While BlackRock manages $10.6tn (£8tn) of assets, only $86bn of that is in its private debt franchise, which it says provides differentiated, flexible and scalable financing solutions to a network of global financial institutions and corporate relationships.

BlackRock chief executive Larry Fink has previously said that private credit will be a “primary growth” driver.

As part of its growth plans, the firm is also making inroads into the wealth market. Earlier this month, BlackRock announced that it had partnered with Euroclear to expand the distribution of its private market funds, including its private debt strategies, via Euroclear’s FundsPlace.

Read more: BlackRock: Fed cuts signal market “recalibration”