Blue Owl Opens Door to Canadian Investors for U.S. Private Loans
Blue Owl Opens Door to Canadian Investors for U.S. Private Loans
(Bloomberg) -- Alternative asset manager Blue Owl Capital Inc. is targeting Canadian investors for one of its U.S. middle-market direct lending funds as cash continues to pour into private credit amid a hunt for higher yields.
High-net worth and institutional investors can put cash into the firm’s open-ended fund, called Owl Rock Core Income Corp., or Orcic, according to a statement Thursday. It’s one of the first U.S.-based direct lenders to offer this to Canadian investors, the statement said.
The Orcic fund includes senior secured loans provided to the upper-end of the U.S. middle market, defined as companies with yearly revenues ranging from $50 million to $2.5 billion, and pays out monthly distributions to those invested.
“In the current market environment, where yields are low and returns are difficult to find, our strategy can offer value for investors looking to generate income,” Blue Owl Chief Executive Officer Douglas Ostrover said in the statement.
Investors have been adding more cash to direct lending partly because the asset class fared better during the pandemic than some people had predicted, and because of the higher yields the debt offers. Private credit funds raised a record $195 billion for the full year of 2021, according to data provider Preqin Ltd.
Orcic manages $2.7 billion in assets with 92 companies in its portfolio as of Nov. 30. The vehicle is managed by Blue Owl, established in May after Neuberger Berman’s Dyal Capital Partners combined with Owl Rock Capital Partners and went public through a special purpose acquisition company. New-York based Blue Owl has $82.9 billion of assets under management as of Sept 30.
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