BlackRock announced today that the Board of Trustees of the BlackRock
Closed-End Funds approved the reorganization of each of BlackRock Global
Equity Income Trust (NYSE:BFD) and BlackRock World Investment Trust
(NYSE:BWC) into BlackRock Global Opportunities Equity Trust (NYSE:BOE),
with BOE being the surviving fund.
BOE’s investment objective is primarily to seek current income and
current gains, with a secondary objective of long-term capital
appreciation. BOE primarily invests in equity securities and utilizes an
option writing strategy to enhance current gains. In approving the
transactions, the Trustees considered, among other things, each fund’s
investment objective, net asset value and stock price performance,
pattern of trading discounts, distribution yield and earnings,
income-generating strategy and expenses.
It is currently expected that the reorganizations will be concluded in
the third quarter of 2009, subject to BFD, BWC and BOE shareholder
approvals and all regulatory requirements and customary closing
conditions being satisfied. If the fund reorganizations occur, BOE would
acquire substantially all of the assets and liabilities of BFD and BWC
in a tax free transaction for shares of BOE. Each transaction would
occur based on the relative net asset values of BFD, BWC and BOE.
BlackRock also announced today the Board’s approval of a change to
certain investment policies of BFD. In connection with the policy
change, BlackRock announced changes to the Trust’s portfolio management
team. Please see the press release entitled “BlackRock Announces
Investment Policy and Portfolio Manager Changes to BlackRock Global
Equity Income Trust” dated February 6, 2009, for additional details.
About BlackRock
BlackRock is one of the world’s largest publicly traded investment
management firms. At December 31, 2008, BlackRock’s assets under
management were $1.307 trillion. The firm manages assets on behalf of
institutions and individuals worldwide through a variety of equity,
fixed income, cash management and alternative investment products. In
addition, a growing number of institutional investors use BlackRock
Solutions® investment system, risk management and financial
advisory services. The firm is headquartered in New York City and has
employees in 22 countries throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia Pacific.
