Norway’s central bank, Norges Bank, purchased more than 9 million shares of BlackRock, giving it 7.51% of the firm’s common voting stock and 5.2% of its combined common and preferred stock, according to an SEC filing Thursday.
The shares were part of a secondary offering earlier this month of more than 55 million BlackRock shares by major shareholders Bank of America and PNC Financial Services Group.
Norges Bank said it now holds 9.85 million BlackRock shares. According to the central bank’s website, Norges Bank held less than 160,000 BlackRock shares as of Dec. 31.
Siv Meisingseth, a spokeswoman for Norges Bank, and BlackRock spokesman Brian Beades declined to comment.
