Blackrock Divests 20 Percent of PennyMac Stock

Blackrock Inc., a New York asset management firm, has contributed its 20 percent of outstanding stock in PennyMac Financial Services Inc. to two charities. PennyMac Financial in Westlake Village announced the deal on Thursday, in which Blackrock gave the stock to BlackRock Charitable Fund and The BlackRock Foundation. Subsequently, the BlackRock Charitable Fund sold 7.8 million shares of PennyMac stock in an unregistered private sale. Following the sale, 50 percent of PennyMac’s total market capitalization of $2.9 billion is now available for public equity purchase, compared to 17 percent after the company’s initial public offering in 2013. PennyMac was founded in 2008 with investments from BlackRock, HC Partners and the company’s management. Currently, about 20 percent of the stock is owned by HC Partners and 21 percent by executive officers and directors. “I am grateful to BlackRock and my lifelong friend (Blackrock Chief Executive) Larry Fink for their partnership for more than 12 years and appreciate the thoughtful manner in which they are divesting their ownership,” PennyMac Chairman Stanford Kurland said in a statement. “We are also pleased that this divestiture will increase the size of our public float and give more investors than ever before the ability to participate in our growth.” “We applaud BlackRock for their philanthropic efforts,” added PennyMac Chief Executive David Spector in a statement. “We are honored that the fruits of our labors will benefit BlackRock’s social impact initiatives and are excited to move into our next chapter with a broader shareholder base.” Shares of PennyMac Financial Services (PFSI) closed Thursday down $1.59, or 4.3 percent, to $35.46 on the New York Stock Exchange.