BlackRock says not participating in any Credit Suisse takeover plan

(Reuters) -BlackRock said on Saturday it had no plans or interest in acquiring embattled Swiss lender Credit Suisse, a spokesperson for the U.S. asset manager told Reuters.

“BlackRock is not participating in any plans to acquire all or any part of Credit Suisse, and has no interest in doing so,” the spokesperson said.

The Financial Times reported BlackRock had been working on a rival bid for Credit Suisse aiming to counter a plan for UBS AG to acquire the struggling bank. It later updated that story to include BlackRock’s denial of any interest or involvement in such a deal.

The FT cited five people with knowledge of the matter as saying the world’s largest asset manager had evaluated a number of options and had talked with other investors.

The FT said that possible options included bids for only individual parts of the business.

Reuters earlier reported Credit Suisse was weighing up its survival options and was under pressure from regulators to pursue a deal with UBS.

Separately, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Saturday UBS was examining a takeover of Credit Suisse that could see the Swiss government offer a guarantee against the risks involved.

Credit Suisse declined to comment.

(Reporting by Sneha Bhowmik in Bengaluru and Amanda Cooper in London; Editing by Frances Kerry and Hugh Lawson)