Brookfield buys most of Oaktree to build giant to rival to Blackstone
The combined businesses will have about $475bn of assets under management, more than industry leader Blackstone had at the end of 2018
New York/Bengaluru— Brookfield Asset Management said on Wednesday that it will buy most of Oaktree Capital Group in a roughly $4.8bn deal, creating an alternative asset manager that will rival industry leader Blackstone Group in size. The decision by Oaktree, led by distressed-debt investor Howard Marks, to sell a majority stake of itself comes after a sustained period in which its stock has underperformed the broader market. Oaktree’s stock is down about 13% over the past five years, even after a price bump on Wednesday following the deal’s announcement. By comparison, the S&P 500 Index is up more than 50% over the same time and Blackstone’s share price is up 4%. Brookfield approached Oaktree about the deal some time during the autumn, a person familiar with the matter said. The deal is also a bet by Brookfield, which currently focuses on private equity, real estate, infrastructure and renewable power, on the prospects for investing in debt, which makes up about 70% of Oaktree’s as...
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