Days after BlackRock announced its $13.5 billion deal to buy Barclays Global Investors (including the iShares business), more details have emerged on one unsuccessful bid for iShares. Of the previously reported $5 billion offer that Vanguard put forward for iShares, the bid consisted of $1 billion in cash, with the remainder to be financed by debt, the Wall Street Journal's Jason Zweig reported over the weekend in his Intelligent Investor column. Zweig also urged Vanguard investors, who have been scratching their heads over the iShares bid, to get used to the prospect of Vanguard donning the buyer's hat.

Vanguard's iShares bid first came to light two weeks ago (see MFWire, 6/1/2009).

While the iShares bid may seem un-Vanguard-like, Zweig says the firm's honchos don't appear to be chasing market share in a reckless fashion. Among the points he raised were that ETFs are here to stay and that the debt that Vanguard would have incurred to pull off the iShares deal would've been paid off by cost savings stemming from the purchased funds. 

Edited by: Armie Margaret Lee


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