Declaration of Regular and Special Distributions Announced for BlackRock Equity Option Closed-End Funds

BlackRock Advisors, LLC today announced regular and special distributions for the following BlackRock equity closed-end funds (the “Funds”): BlackRock Real Asset Equity Trust (NYSE:BCF), BlackRock Resources and Commodities Strategy Trust (NYSE:BCX), BlackRock Enhanced Equity Dividend Trust (NYSE:BDJ), BlackRock Energy and Resources Trust (NYSE:BGR), BlackRock International Growth and Income Trust (NYSE:BGY), BlackRock Health Sciences Trust (NYSE:BME), BlackRock Global Opportunities Equity Trust (NYSE:BOE), BlackRock EcoSolutions Investment Trust (NYSE:BQR), BlackRock Dividend Income Trust (NYSE MKT:BQY), BlackRock Utility and Infrastructure Trust (NYSE:BUI), and BlackRock Enhanced Capital and Income Fund, Inc. (NYSE:CII). BME announced a distribution increase. This increase reflects the current level of the Fund’s net assets and current and projected levels of dividend income, option premiums, and volatility in the market.

As announced in a June 16, 2014 press release, BlackRock changed the frequency of regular Fund distributions from quarterly to monthly. BlackRock believes this change will benefit investors seeking more frequent regular cash distributions. As a result of this change, beginning in August 2014 (with respect to BOE, BQY and BUI) and September 2014 (with respect to BCF, BCX , BDJ, BGR, BGY, BME, BQR and CII), shareholders of each Fund began receiving distributions on a monthly basis. In order to ensure that shareholders of each Fund receive the same aggregate amount of distributions during the 2014 calendar year pursuant to the new monthly distribution cycle as they would have with the prior quarterly distribution cycle, the Funds are declaring special distributions to be paid on October 31, 2014 (in the case of BQR, BGR, CII, BDJ, BOE, BME, BGY, BCX and BUI) and November 3, 2014 (in the case of BQY and BCF), as detailed below. These special distributions are in addition to the regular monthly distributions to be paid on October 31, 2014 for all of the Funds as detailed below.

In order to comply with the requirements of Section 19 of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, each of the Funds posted to the DTC bulletin board and sent to its shareholders of record as of the applicable record date a Section 19 notice with the previous distribution payment. The Section 19 notice was provided for informational purposes only and not for tax reporting purposes. This information can be found in the “Closed-End Funds” section of www.blackrock.com. As applicable, the final determination of the source and tax characteristics of all distributions in 2014 will be made after the end of the year.

The Funds have adopted a level distribution plan (a “Plan”) and employ a managed distribution and/or an option over-write policy to support a level distribution of income, capital gains and/or return of capital. The fixed amounts distributed per share are subject to change at the discretion of each Fund’s Board of Directors/Trustees. Under its Plan, each Fund will distribute all available investment income to its shareholders, consistent with its primary investment objectives and as required by the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. If sufficient investment income is not available on a monthly basis, each Fund will distribute long-term capital gains and/or return capital to its shareholders in order to maintain a level distribution.

The Funds’ estimated sources of the distributions paid as of September 30, 2014 and for their current fiscal year are as follows:

¹ The Fund estimates that it has distributed more than its income and net realized capital gains in the current fiscal year; therefore, a portion of the distribution may be a return of capital. A return of capital may occur, for example, when some or all of the shareholder’s investment is paid back to the shareholder. A return of capital distribution does not necessarily reflect a Fund’s investment performance and should not be confused with ‘yield’ or ‘income’. When distributions exceed total return performance, the difference will reduce the Fund’s net asset value per share.

The amounts and sources of distributions reported are only estimates and are not provided for tax reporting purposes. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon each Fund’s investment experience during the remainder of its fiscal year and may be subject to changes based on tax regulations. Each Fund will send its shareholders a Form 1099-DIV for the calendar year that will tell its shareholders how to report these distributions for federal income tax purposes.

* Portfolio launched within the past 5 years; this represents the average annual total return (in relation to NAV) from inception to 8/31/2014.

Shareholders should not draw any conclusions about a Fund’s investment performance from the amount of the Fund’s current distributions or from the terms of the Fund’s Plan.

About BlackRock

BlackRock is a leader in investment management, risk management and advisory services for institutional and retail clients worldwide. At June 30, 2014, BlackRock’s assets under management were $4.594 trillion. BlackRock helps clients meet their goals and overcome challenges with a range of products that include separate accounts, mutual funds, iShares^® (exchange-traded funds), and other pooled investment vehicles. BlackRock also offers risk management, advisory and enterprise investment system services to a broad base of institutional investors through BlackRock Solutions^®. Headquartered in New York City, as of June 30, 2014, the firm had approximately 11,600 employees in more than 30 countries and a major presence in key global markets, including North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and the Middle East and Africa.

For additional information, please visit BlackRock’s website at www.blackrock.com |
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Forward-Looking Statements

This press release, and other statements that BlackRock or the Funds may make, may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, with respect to the Funds or BlackRock’s future financial or business performance, strategies or expectations. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words or phrases such as “trend,” “potential,” “opportunity,” “pipeline,” “believe,” “comfortable,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “current,” “intention,” “estimate,” “position,” “assume,” “outlook,” “continue,” “remain,” “maintain,” “sustain,” “seek,” “achieve,” and similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as “will,” “would,” “should,” “could,” “may” or similar expressions.

BlackRock cautions that forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties, which change over time. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and BlackRock assumes no duty to and does not undertake to update forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements and future results could differ materially from historical performance.

With respect to the Funds, the following factors, among others, could cause actual events to differ materially from forward-looking statements or historical performance: (1) changes and volatility in political, economic or industry conditions, the interest rate environment, foreign exchange rates or financial and capital markets, which could result in changes in demand for the Funds or in a Fund’s net asset value; (2) the relative and absolute investment performance of a Fund and its investments; (3) the impact of increased competition; (4) the unfavorable resolution of any legal proceedings; (5) the extent and timing of any distributions or share repurchases; (6) the impact, extent and timing of technological changes; (7) the impact of legislative and regulatory actions and reforms, including the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and regulatory, supervisory or enforcement actions of government agencies relating to a Fund or BlackRock, as applicable; (8) terrorist activities, international hostilities and natural disasters, which may adversely affect the general economy, domestic and local financial and capital markets, specific industries or BlackRock; (9) BlackRock’s ability to attract and retain highly talented professionals; (10) the impact of BlackRock electing to provide support to its products from time to time; and (11) the impact of problems at other financial institutions or the failure or negative performance of products at other financial institutions.

Annual and Semi-Annual Reports and other regulatory filings of a Fund with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) are accessible on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov and on BlackRock’s website at www.blackrock.com, and may discuss these or other factors that affect the Funds. The information contained on BlackRock’s website is not a part of this press release.