You read the headline right. Larry Fink and his team have snapped up a Boston-area renewable energy company with an interesting name, one not to be confused with that of a certain mutual fund titan further south.

Laurence D. "Larry" Fink BlackRock Chairman, CEO

Yesterday, Mark Florian, head of diversified infrastructure for BlackRock's [profile] real assets business, and Neil Smith, CEO of Vanguard Renewables, confirmed that one of New York City-based BlackRock's real assets funds has purchased Wellesley, Massachusetts-based Vanguard Renewables from Vision Ridge Partners, a venture capital shop. The price tag on the deal is reportedly $700 million.

OnPeak Capital LLC advised Vanguard Renewables on the deal, while Evercore advised BlackRock. On the legal side, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett advised BlackRock, while Ropes & Gray LLP advised Vision Ridge.

Kevin Chase and John Hanselman founded Vanguard Renewables eight years ago, and the firm specializes in turning food waste and manure into energy. The company appears to have no relation to a certain similiarly named BlackRock rival based in Malvern, Pennsylvania.

Florian frames the deal in the context of the attractiveness of "renewable natural gas," which he describes as a "fast-growing market that provides decarbonization solutions for both the provider of the waste, as well as the natural gas consumer." Smith, for his part, describes the deal as "an exciting next chapter for Vanguard Renewables." 

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