Blue Owl Capital will expand its footprint in private credit and asset-based finance through the acquisition of Atalaya Capital Management for $450 million.
The deal, expected to close in the second half of 2024, will add $10 billion in assets under management to Blue Owl’s portfolio, the firm announced Tuesday.
Ivan Zinn, who founded Atalaya in 2006, will join Blue Owl as head of alternative credit and report to Craig Packer, head of credit and co-president of Blue Owl. New York-based Atalaya, with 115 employees, specializes in asset-based finance, investing across specialty finance, corporate and real estate assets.
The purchase price includes $350 million in Blue Owl equity and $100 million in cash. The buyer is also offering up to $350 million in earnout considerations.
The deal marks the latest example of asset managers actively seeking opportunities in asset-based credit, in some cases by acquiring assets left on the cutting room floor due to regional bank failures last year.
Blue Owl’s purchase of Atalaya marks the firm’s third acquisition in recent months, riding the wave of manager consolidation as LPs demand more sophisticated products.
In addition to asset-based finance, Blue Owl has been actively broadening its insurance and real estate product offerings through the respective acquisitions of Kuvare Asset Management and Prima Capital Advisors. Kuvare closed this month, boosting Blue Owl’s AUM by $20 billion and establishing Blue Owl Insurance Solutions, focused on investing on behalf of insurance providers.
Alongside Blue Owl, Blackstone is another publicly listed alternative manager deeply involved in asset-based finance. Last month, Bloomberg reported that the firm provided part of a $2.3 billion debt package for CoreWeave, a cloud provider for accelerated workloads, and purchased credit card receivables from Barclays for $1.1 billion .
Citigroup, MUFG Bank, SMBC and Wells Fargo are acting as co-financial advisers and Kirkland & Ellis is acting as legal adviser to Blue Owl.
In Atalaya’s camp are Mizuho, RBC and Truist along with Cravath, Swaine & Moore on the legal side.
Featured image by Darya Komarova/Getty Images
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