{{Short description|British financial services company}} {{Use British English|date=March 2026}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2026}} {{Infobox company | name = Preqin Ltd. | logo = PREQIN LOGO.png | type = Subsidiary | foundation = {{start date and age|2003}} | location = London | products = Research & data | assets = | num_employees = 1,500+ | homepage= }} '''Preqin Ltd.''' is a British privately held London-based investment data company that provides financial data and insight on the alternative assets market, as well as tools to support investment in alternatives.
By the company's own definition, its data encompasses private capital and hedge funds, including fund, fund manager, investor, performance and deal information. The asset classes it covers are: private equity, venture capital, hedge funds, private debt, real estate, infrastructure, natural resources and secondaries.
Preqin competes with companies such as Pitchbook, CapitalIQ, Burgess, Octum AI, Tracxn, Crunchbase, and other financial databases.
==History== Launched as ''Private Equity Intelligence'' in 2003, the firm founded by Mark O’Hare and Nick Arnott began by listing private equity performance data, relying on the Freedom of Information Act (UK FOIA).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/contents|title=Freedom of Information Act 2000|website=www.legislation.gov.uk|language=en|others=Expert Participation|access-date=2018-11-30}}</ref>
In 2018, it launched a research report titled Women in Alternatives'','' which detailed underrepresentation of women in the alternative assets industry. <ref>{{Cite news |date=11 October 2017 |title=Women under-represented in alternative asset industry |url=https://www.ft.com/content/e0008a16-ae9b-11e7-aab9-abaa44b1e130 |access-date=2018-11-30 |website=Financial Times |language=en-GB}}</ref> Preqin won The Queen's Award for Enterprise in International Trade in 2016 and 2019,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://queensawardsmagazine.com/business-winner/preqin-limited/|title=Preqin Ltd «|website=queensawardsmagazine.com|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-11-30}}</ref> was a national winner at the 2019 European Business Awards,<ref>{{Cite web|title=The European Business Awards|url=https://www.businessawardseurope.com/|access-date=2020-10-15|website=www.businessawardseurope.com}}</ref> and was named as part of the Sunday Times International Track 200 in the same year.<ref>{{Cite web|last=TWK|title=Fast Track|url=https://www.fasttrack.co.uk/league-tables/international-track-200/|access-date=2020-10-15|website=Fast Track|language=en-GB}}</ref>
In August 2021, Preqin fully acquired Colmore,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.colmore.com/ |title=Colmore «|website=www.colmore.com/}}</ref> a leading private markets technology, services and administration business.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.colmore.com/preqin-acquires-colmore/ |title= Preqin Acquires Colmore |website=www.colmore.com/preqin-acquires-colmore/|date= 11 August 2021 }}</ref> On July 1, 2024, BlackRock announced that it would acquire the company for £2.55 billion,<ref>{{Cite web|work=Bloomberg|title= BlackRock Buys Preqin for $3.2 Billion in Private Data Expansion|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-07-01/blackrock-buys-preqin-for-3-2-billion-in-private-data-expansion}}</ref> with the aim of combining its data and research tools with Aladdin.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thrasher |first=Michael |date=2024-07-01 |title=How BlackRock’s Preqin Deal Will ‘Transform’ the World’s Biggest Asset Manager |url=https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/2dfvf8otiwvz3v3eti22o/corner-office/how-blackrocks-preqin-deal-will-transform-the-worlds-biggest-asset-manager |access-date=2024-07-05 |website=Institutional Investor |language=en}}</ref>
In March 2025, it was announced that BlackRock had completed the purchase of Preqin, considering a value of US$3.2 billion for full control of the company.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.moneymanagement.com.au/news/funds-management/blackrock-completes-acquisition-research-house-preqin|title=BlackRock completes acquisition of research house Preqin|work=Money Management|access-date=2025-09-03|language=en}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
Category:Financial services companies established in 2002 Category:Private equity media and publications Category:Research and analysis firms of the United Kingdom Category:Financial data vendors Category:2025 mergers and acquisitions