Blue Owl mulls merger of portfolio firms to form industry titan

Investing.com — Billionaire dealmaker Michael Rees is exploring the possibility of merging three to five firms from Blue Owl’s portfolio to create a major player in the industry, according to the Financial Times, citing four sources privy to the matter. The proposed combination would encompass a range of sectors, including private equity buyouts, credit-based investments, infrastructure deals, and real estate.

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Blue Owl was established in 2021 through the merger of Dyal Capital, a firm founded by Rees, with credit investor Owl Rock Capital (NYSE:) and a public Spac during the boom. It owns stakes in private infrastructure groups such as Stonepeak and I Squared Capital, as well as firms with large infrastructure-like portfolios like Bridgepoint. Blue Owl also holds minority stakes in Vista Equity Partners, Silver Lake, HIG Capital, Platinum Equity, Cerberus, and Clearlake Capital among others. The firm would not be involved in any potential merger.

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While Rees’s proposal is still in its nascent stages, it highlights the ongoing consolidation in the alternative investment market. Top dealmakers in the industry are being compelled to decide whether to remain private and focus on a few core strengths or join larger publicly listed financial groups.

Last week’s $12 billion acquisition of credit manager HPS by BlackRock (NYSE:), a company in Blue Owl’s portfolio, has prompted many firms to reconsider their strategies. There’s a growing concern among executives that the industry’s influence will increasingly be controlled by a few diversified entities capable of attracting new capital from sources ranging from large sovereign wealth funds to individual investors and potentially even retirement savers.

In October, Goldman Sachs executive Michael Brandmeyer cautioned that many independent private equity groups were underestimating the influx of cash to larger players and the challenges arising from succession processes. He referred to these groups as “zombie firms,” stating that they were unaware they were investing their last funds.

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Despite the ongoing disruption in the private equity industry, advisors have noted that deal discussions rarely result in transactions due to concerns about conflicting strategies and personalities. As one private capital executive close to Blue Owl puts it, the merger proposed by Rees would be a “merger of equals,” with different valuations in different sectors and some overlap, making it a complex yet potentially beneficial move.

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