BlackRock has agreed to buy UK data firm Preqin for 2.55 billion pounds ($3.23 billion) in cash in a further expansion by the world's biggest asset management company into alternative investments.

BlackRock, which manages more than $10 trillion, is seeking to capitalise on a boom in demand from investors for alternative assets, which includes anything from private equity to infrastructure. In January BlackRock announced a deal to buy Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) for $12.5 billion, while other investment firms have also struck recent deals.

The asset manager beat out rival potential bidders, which sources told Reuters last month included London Stock Exchange Group, and S&P Global, for Preqin following a bidding process and after its owners had decided on a full sale of the business.

Demand for financial data and research has led to a wave of dealmaking in the sector in recent years. Among the biggest was S&P Global's $44 billion all-stock purchase of IHS Markit that completed in 2022.

In a statement, BlackRock said that the acquisition would complement its Aladdin tech business by bringing together data, research, and investment process for fund managers.

Aladdin is BlackRock's portfolio management software which provides investment professionals a way to view and manage daily investments.

"Together with Preqin, we can make private markets investing easier and more accessible while building a better-connected platform for investors and fund managers..," said Sudhir Nair, global head of BlackRock's Aladdin.

Preqin will also continue to be offered as a standalone solution, the company said.

Preqin is expected to generate about $240 million of recurring revenue in 2024 and has grown approximately 20% per year in the last three years, BlackRock said in its statement.

Preqin, which was founded in 2003, specialises in data about the alternative investment industry. The UK-based company has subscribers in more than 90 countries, according to the British government's register of companies.

Its founder Mark O'Hare will join BlackRock as a vice chair after the close of the transaction.

(Reporting by Surbhi Misra and Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes; editing by Mark Porter, Leslie Adler and Muralikumar Anantharaman)