BlackRock Inc. has agreed to purchase Global Infrastructure Partners, co-founded by Adebayo “Bayo” Ogunlesi, for around $12.5 billion, Bloomberg reports. The announced acquisition of the $100 billion asset-management firm spiked Ogunlesi’s net worth to an estimated $2.3 billion.
According to the outlet, Global Infrastructure Partners was founded back in 2006 and raised over $5 billion. What’s more, per the global independent infrastructure fund manager’s website, the companies in its equity portfolios have combined annual revenues over $80 billion. With a focus on energy, transportation, digital, water and waste sectors, Global Infrastructure Partners works to “originate proprietary transactions, conduct deep and extensive due diligence, structure and close investments, employ best practice operating management, effectively manage stakeholder relationships and identify exit opportunities.”
Along the almost 20-year history of Global Infrastructure Partners, the firm secured ownership of London, England’s Gatwick and City airports as well as Edinburgh, Scotland’s airport. In addition, it invested in gas pipelines, power plants, offshore wind farms, and port operators, the outlet notes.
“Ogunlesi, who is chief executive officer, is calculated to have a 17.5% stake by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index and a total fortune of about $2.3 billion,” Bloomberg explained. “An equal split of GIP’s $12.5 billion acquisition price would give the firm’s 27 other partners stakes worth more than $380 million each.”
Prior to his career trajectory, Ogunlesi earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Oxford in England and a MBA from Harvard University. Then, before pivoting from banking, he was the head of Credit Suisse’s investment-banking division. Additionally, he became the lead independent director at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in 2014. However, he is set to resign from Goldman Sachs following BlackRock Inc. buying Global Infrastructure Partners.
As of this writing, Ogunlesi is chair of President Joe Biden’s National Infrastructure Advisory Council and serves on Topgolf Callaway Brands Corp.’s board.
