Owl Rock Capital Group (“Owl Rock”) and the Dyal Capital Partners (“Dyal”) division of Neuberger Berman Group LLC (“Neuberger Berman”) announced they entered into a definitive business combination agreement with Altimar Acquisition Corporation (“Altimar”) to form Blue Owl Capital Inc. (“Blue Owl”), an alternative asset management firm with over $45.0 billion in assets under management.
Blue Owl will enter the public market through a business combination with Altimar, a special purpose acquisition company sponsored by an affiliate of HPS Investment Partners, LLC. The combined entity is expected to have a post-transaction market capitalization of approximately $12.5 billion. As a result of the transaction, Blue Owl is expected to be listed on the NYSE under the new ticker “OWL”.
The new firm’s main business will focus on two of the fastest growing areas of alternative asset management: Direct Lending, where Owl Rock is one of the leading private credit providers to middle and upper middle market businesses backed by top-tier financial sponsors, and GP Capital Solutions, where Dyal has been a leader and innovator since its founding. The Owl Rock and Dyal businesses will be autonomous but complementary. By bringing together two preeminent businesses in their respective fields, Blue Owl will be positioned as a differentiated provider of holistic solutions to the alternative asset management community. Each business will be led by its current long-tenured management, and its respective investment teams will continue to employ the disciplined investment philosophies that they have delivered since inception.
Doug Ostrover, co-founder of Owl Rock, will serve as Chief Executive Officer of Blue Owl. On the announcement of the strategic combination, he stated: “Blue Owl’s expertise, agility and scale, supported by a substantial permanent capital base, will enable us to offer a holistic platform of capital solutions to private equity firms and privately held businesses. We believe this will broaden and deepen our relationships and provide us with unrivaled access to compelling investment opportunities. In addition, this permanent capital base will allow Blue Owl to continue to strongly grow its business in a consistent and predictable manner. The foundation of our success is the trust our clients and partners place in us based on our experience, investment approach, and commitment to serving them. We look forward to solidifying our position as the capital partner and investment manager of choice for our stakeholders.”
Michael Rees, Dyal founder, and Marc Lipschultz, Owl Rock co-founder, will be co-Presidents of Blue Owl. Rees said: “Our businesses will combine robust growth and a strong margin profile with a high level of earnings visibility and stability, offering investors a compelling way to access the alternative asset management industry.” Lipschultz added: “By building on this strong foundation, we believe we are well positioned to continue to expand our current platforms and pursue new, complementary business lines to provide differentiated sources of returns for our investors.”
George Walker, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Neuberger Berman, added: “This partnership is a clear and natural fit. Neuberger Berman, as a meaningful shareholder, looks forward to seeing Blue Owl continue to grow as an industry leader. Moreover, Neuberger Berman has the privilege of continuing to manage $80 billion in alternatives distinct from the Dyal business, and our culture of innovation from which Dyal began will continue to help us deliver for clients in the years to come.”
Upon completion of the transaction, Blue Owl will be a stand-alone firm and Owl Rock and Dyal founders, alongside Neuberger Berman, will own meaningful equity positions in Blue Owl.
Blue Owl management believes it will have a uniquely attractive financial profile due to its combination of strong growth and margins with a focus on permanent capital and fee related earnings (“FRE”). Specifically, the firm will have over $45.0 billion in combined assets under management, 92% of which would be permanent capital, and initially will derive its distributable earnings from FRE, which allows for enhanced predictability of earnings. Blue Owl will be well positioned to grow its asset base and distributable earnings due to the complementary client relationships and skillsets of Dyal and Owl Rock, which we believe will further enable new product expansion.
We believe investors in Blue Owl sponsored funds will benefit from a strategic combination without disruption to the service they receive or the investment programs they rely upon. Investment strategies, processes and teams for the company’s funds will remain consistent, while expecting that their investors will gain from the combined company’s expanded platform, broadened and deepened relationships across the alternative asset management landscape, and a broader range of expertise across the firm.
Owl Rock Capital Corporation (“ORCC”), Owl Rock Capital Corporation II, Owl Rock Capital Corporation III, Owl Rock Technology Finance Corp. and Owl Rock Core Income Corp. (the “Owl Rock BDCs”) will continue to be led by their Chief Executive Officer and Owl Rock co-founder, Craig Packer, and will not undertake any change to their investment strategies, team or process from this transaction. This includes ORCC, which is publicly traded under the “ORCC” ticker.
The closing of the transaction will result in a change of control of the registered investment adviser (the “Owl Rock Advisers”) to each of the Owl Rock BDCs under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (“1940 Act”), and will require the assignment of each Owl Rock BDC’s current investment advisory agreement in accordance with the 1940 Act. As a result, each BDC’s shareholders will be asked to approve an amended and restated investment advisory agreement between such Owl Rock BDC and the applicable Owl Rock Adviser, which will replace its current investment advisory agreement upon the consummation of the transaction. All material terms will remain unchanged from the Owl Rock BDCs’ current investment advisory agreements, and such agreements, if approved by the applicable Owl Rock BDCs’ shareholders, will become effective upon the closing of the transaction.
Transaction Overview
Pursuant to the transaction, Altimar, which currently holds $275 million in cash in trust, will combine with Blue Owl at an estimated $12.5 billion pro forma equity value at closing. Assuming no redemptions by Altimar’s existing public stockholders, the existing equityholders of Owl Rock and Dyal (including Neuberger Berman) will hold approximately 85% of Blue Owl immediately following the closing of the business combination. The founders and senior managers of Blue Owl will retain their equity stakes immediately following the transaction, promoting continued alignment with the combined company’s public investors and clients.
Cash proceeds in connection with the transaction will be funded through a combination of Altimar’s cash in trust and a $1.5 billion fully committed, oversubscribed, common stock private investment in public equity (“PIPE”) at $10.00 per share, including commitments from leading investors including ICONIQ Capital, CH Investment Partners, Koch Companies Defined Benefit Master Trust, the Federated Hermes Kaufmann Funds, and Liberty Mutual Investments.
The board of directors for each of Altimar and Neuberger Berman, as well as the Executive Committee of Owl Rock, have unanimously approved the proposed transaction. Completion of the proposed transaction is subject to approvals of Altimar’s stockholders, the equityholders of each of the Owl Rock BDCs to the assignment of its advisory agreement, as discussed above, and Dyal-sponsored fund's limited partners, in addition to other customary closing conditions, including a registration statement being declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of 2021.
Management and Board of Directors
Upon completion of the strategic combination, Blue Owl will be led by Doug Ostrover (Owl Rock co-founder) as Chief Executive Officer. The senior management team will also include Michael Rees (founder of Dyal) and Marc Lipschultz (Owl Rock co-founder) as co-Presidents and Alan Kirshenbaum as Chief Financial Officer. Craig Packer (Owl Rock co-founder) will continue as Chief Executive Officer of the Owl Rock BDCs.
Blue Owl’s nine-person board of directors will be initially composed of three independent directors, three Owl Rock-appointed directors, two Dyal-appointed directors and one Neuberger Berman-appointed director.
Advisors
Perella Weinberg Partners LP, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and BofA Securities, Inc. are serving as financial advisors and Kirkland & Ellis LLP is serving as legal counsel to Owl Rock.
Ardea Partners LP is serving as financial advisor for Neuberger Berman and Dyal. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is serving as legal counsel to Neuberger Berman. Additionally, Citigroup and UBS are serving as advisors to Neuberger Berman. Evercore Group LLC is serving as financial advisor and Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP is serving as legal counsel to Dyal.
J.P. Morgan Securities LLC is serving as exclusive financial advisor and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is serving as legal counsel to Altimar Acquisition Corporation.
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC acted as joint placement agents on the PIPE.