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(Reuters) - Blank-check firms - popularly known as SPACs - emerged as the most popular investment vehicles and the primary driving force behind a record year for initial public offerings (IPOs) in 2020, even as overall dealmaking activity tumbled to a three-year low.
SPACs are shell companies that raise funds in an IPO with the aim of buying a private company, with the acquired company becoming public after the merger.
Once confined to the backwaters of Wall Street dealmaking, a SPAC, or a special purpose acquisition company, accounted for nearly half of the overall amount raised through new listings as investors mostly bet on new tech stocks after the Federal Reserve shored up the economy with a stimulus package in May.
SPACtacular: Blank-check firms hit the jackpot in 2020 investing.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from investing.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Dyal Capital and Owl Rock agree $12.5bn SPAC merger and IPO Monday, December 28, 2020
Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia:
Neuberger Berman s Dyal Capital Partners and direct lender Owl Rock Capital have agreed to combine in a complex deal to take them public via a blank cheque vehicle.
The two firms will combine with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), Altimar Acquisition Corp., to form a publicly traded alternative investment firm, Blue Owl Capital overseeing assets worth $45 billion.
Altimar is sponsored by alternative investment firm HPS Investment Partners.
The merged company is expected to have a market capitalization of about $12.5 billion and to be listed on the NYSE under the new ticker OWL.
Provided by Dow Jones
Dec 23, 2020 10:24 PM UTC Shares of banks and other lenders and money managers were higher as undervalued cyclical stocks sensitive to a slowly recovering U.S. economy led a market rally. U.S. government-bond prices fell as investors reacted to signs that U.K. and European Union officials were closing in on a new trade accord that would avoid tariffs being imposed at the start of next year. The spread between the 2-year note and the 10-year note was at 83 basis points, around its steepest since late October 2017. Ant Group cut borrowing limits for some users of its popular digital credit-card service, a sign the financial-technology giant is dialing back risk in its lending business following pressure from Chinese regulators.
Just three weeks after announcing deal discussions, Dyal Capital Partners and Owl Rock Capital Group have agreed to merge and go public via a black-check company.
The combined business will operate under the name Blue Owl Capital and oversee more than $45 billion of assets, according to an announcement Wednesday from Dyal and Owl Rock. The alternative asset manager is expected to have a market value of $12.5 billion.
Blue Owl is going public through Altimar Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company sponsored by HPS Investment Partners. Dyal, a large owner of minority stakes in alternative asset managers, already holds interest in both direct lender Owl Rock and HPS.