Blue Owl Capital Enters CRE With $170M Acquisition Of CMBS-Focused Prima Capital

Alternative asset manager Blue Owl Capital is acquiring real estate lender Prima Capital Advisors for $170M in a deal that represents a push into real estate finance by Blue Owl.

Prima is majority-owned by Stone Point Capital and has about $10B in assets under management with a specialty in CMBS.

Blue Owl is financing the deal with about $157M in equity and $13M in cash, with the potential for as much as $35M in earnout consideration in the form of equity. Earnouts are typically awarded when an acquired business meets certain financial or other goals after the close. Blue Owl didn't specify what those goals were. The deal is expected to close later this year.

“There is a growing lack of capital availability in real estate today – we believe that Prima's strong underwriting capabilities ... combined with the scale of Blue Owl's ecosystem, can address these needs,” Blue Owl co-CEOs Doug Ostrover and Marc Lipschultz said in a statement.

Jesse Horn will join Blue Owl's real estate platform as chief investment officer to oversee its growth in real estate finance. Horn was previously global head of real estate credit at GIC, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund. Horn will also be in charge of Blue Owl’s existing triple-net lease business.

Blue Owl, which has about $165B in assets under management, has been in an expansion mode recently. Earlier in April, the company acquired Kuvare Asset Management for $750M. Kuvare is an insurance and reinsurance specialist.

Blue Owl stock ticked down on Tuesday morning by about 1.7%. Over the last 12 months, however, its stock has risen more than 78%.