In April, CEO Larry Fink and GIP Chairman Adebayo Ogunlesi met Sheinbaum at the presidential palace to discuss her infrastructure plan. The two men had already traveled to see her once after she assumed office in late 2024, and this meeting marked their second visit.
Apollo has said it will put $20 billion into Mexican projects, including infrastructure. In June, BlackRock's Mexico country head Sergio Méndez met with government officials and other asset managers about designing infrastructure investment vehicles.
Executives from Alom Infra, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Macquarie Asset Management, Mexico Infrastructure Partners, Blackstone Inc. and KKR & Co. have likewise held talks with senior Mexican officials.
In the wake of the energy policies of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who restricted private investment in power and bolstered state-controlled Pemex and CFE, Sheinbaum has sought to attract more private investment. Mexico's 2013 energy overhaul initially created hopes of a wave of capital, but those expectations vanished in 2018 when López Obrador cut private investment in electricity. He prioritized refinery expansion, including a roughly $20 billion facility, while new power-generation capacity received little attention.
Energy is the main event. Sheinbaum's push centers on power projects that strengthen the national electricity grid, and European, US, and Mexican developers have already pledged billions for them. That pace of investment has already eclipsed the total under her predecessor.
Up to now, the government has not produced the huge, multibillion-dollar opportunities that large asset managers want.
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GIP bought the Mexican power firm Saavi in 2021. In April, Grupo Mexico bought 70% of Saavi Energia and merged it with its own power operations. GIP kept a 30% stake. That stake points to BlackRock's long-term interest in Mexico.
BlackRock and Grupo Mexico plan to turn Saavi into a larger regional player. The firm also wants to back logistics businesses, including ports and railways, and is hunting for more acquisitions as Mexico's power sector consolidates.
BlackRock has long had a foothold in the country. It bought Citibanamex's Mexican asset-management business in 2018. Marco Antonio Slim Domit, whose father is Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, was a BlackRock board member for more than a decade.
Mexico still has a rule that gives some investors pause.
A constitutional overhaul that requires judicial elections has raised another red flag: some investors worry that judges chosen at the ballot box could tilt toward the ruling party, which controls Congress.
Rosanety Barrios, who previously worked as an energy official and regulator in Mexico, said, "Mexico faces an alarming deficit in energy infrastructure."
Sergio Luna, chief economist at Grupo Financiero Mifel, said: "A company as big as BlackRock has the capacity to communicate with the Mexican government. They pick up this phone and get in touch with the president tomorrow."
Ana Lilia Moreno of the think tank Mexico Evalúa sees a clear path for the biggest investors. "The rules of the game are clear. If a project is included in the strategic investment portfolio, the government guarantees its success," she said. "It ensures the project will get underway quickly by streamlining all regulatory processes. Investors like BlackRock see this opportunity."
In May, Fink described Latin America as exiting a long phase of "wasted time" marked by frequent political swings. BlackRock declined to comment.
The smaller deals show where the money is actually moving.
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