Dyal Capital Is in Talks to Merge With Owl Rock Through SPAC

(Bloomberg) -- Neuberger Berman’s Dyal Capital Partners is in talks to combine with Owl Rock Capital Partners in a deal that would take the asset managers public.

The two firms are negotiating with Altimar Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company backed by HPS Investment Partners, which signed a nonbinding letter of intent for a potential merger, according to a statement and a regulatory filing Wednesday.

“The founders of Owl Rock and Dyal would lead the stand-alone firm, and the investment teams and processes would remain unchanged,” the companies said.

The blank-check firm, led by Chief Executive Officer Tom Wasserman, said that it was in the process of conducting due diligence and that the deal isn’t guaranteed.

Altimar raised $275 million in an October initial public offering. At the time, the company said it would focus on finding targets in four industries in which HPS has expertise: health care, financial services, consumer and technology, and media and telecommunications. Dyal has owned a minority stake in HPS since 2018.

Shares of Altimar rose 5.3% to $10.67 at 9:53 a.m. in New York. They’ve gained 6.7% since the IPO.

See also: Owl Rock Sells a Stake to Dyal Amid Private Credit Frenzy

The Wall Street Journal, which reported on the proposed transaction earlier, said the combined entity would be valued at about $13 billion.

Dyal, founded by former Lehman Brothers executives Michael Rees and Sean Ward, manages about $22 billion, according to its website. The firm’s funds own stakes in other asset managers such as Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners and Iconiq Capital.

Owl Rock, which debuted in 2016, manages $23.7 billion of assets. Co-founders Doug Ostrover, Marc Lipschultz and Craig Packer held senior positions at Blackstone Group Inc., KKR & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., respectively. Last year, Dyal made an investment in Owl Rock that valued the firm at about $2.5 billion.

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