The announcement on February 6, 2026, marks the completion of a major structural shift for BlackRock: the full "bridge" between public and private market data.

By integrating Preqin (which BlackRock acquired for $3.2 billion in 2025) directly into eFront and Aladdin, they have essentially built a "Bloomberg Terminal for private assets."

Until now, institutional investors had to toggle between different systems: one for their stocks and bonds (Aladdin), one for their internal private equity data (eFront), and a third for market research and benchmarking (Preqin).

This isn't just for big banks. BlackRock’s goal is to bring Private Equity to the masses. By making private assets as easy to track and trade as public stocks, BlackRock is preparing for a world where your 401(k) or personal brokerage account includes small "tokens" of private infrastructure or private debt.

Sloane Collins, BlackRock’s Head of Product for Aladdin Private Markets, stated that this integration "narrows the gap" between how the world treats public and private assets. It effectively ends the era where private equity was a "black box."