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Blue Owl’s Near-Par Loan Sale and Redemption Halt Put Private-Credit Liquidity to the Test

The episode underscores liquidity mechanics rather than a broad deterioration in credit fundamentals.

Overview

  • Blue Owl sold about $1.4 billion of loans across roughly 128 borrowers at around 99.7% of par to return capital and trim leverage.
  • The firm permanently stopped withdrawals in its non-traded OBDC II and shifted the vehicle to a runoff structure targeting roughly a 30% capital return.
  • Shares of Blue Owl fell roughly 10% after the changes as sector peers swung, reflecting investor focus on valuation practices and liquidity terms.
  • Views diverged, with Bank of America keeping a buy rating and a $24 target while prominent commentators questioned valuations and raised cherry-picking worries that management denies.
  • Oversight intensified as Moody’s highlighted systemic risks from rapid private-credit growth and observers flagged software concentration, with about 13% of the sold loans tied to software.