Oaktree Capital Group, LLC announced that Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. has closed its asset purchase agreement pursuant to which Oaktree has become the new investment adviser to two business development companies (BDCs): Oaktree Specialty Lending Corporation and Oaktree Strategic Income Corporation.
“We are excited to introduce our new BDCs, Oaktree Specialty Lending and Oaktree Strategic Income. These companies provide us with a BDC platform with scale that benefits from Oaktree’s deep credit and direct lending expertise, origination capabilities and underwriting skills,” said Jay Wintrob, Chief Executive Officer. “We look forward to leveraging our 22-year history of successful credit investing to maximize the value of our BDC platform for the shareholders of both the BDCs and Oaktree over time.”
Oaktree Specialty Lending will operate as a specialty finance company dedicated to providing customized, one-stop credit solutions to companies with limited access to public or syndicated capital markets, offering flexible and innovative financing solutions through first and second lien loans, unsecured and mezzanine loans, and preferred equity. Oaktree Strategic Income will focus on providing customized capital solutions to middle-market companies, offering a range of first-lien financing solutions to companies across a wide variety of industries.
Oaktree portfolio manager Edgar Lee has been named Chief Executive Officer of both Oaktree Specialty Lending and Oaktree Strategic Income, which together have approximately $2.5 billion of assets under management across first lien, second lien, unsecured and mezzanine loans. Other members of the executive leadership team for the BDCs are Matt Pendo, Chief Operating Officer, Mel Carlisle, Chief Financial Officer and Kim Larin, Chief Compliance Officer.
"Direct lending has always been an important part of Oaktree’s credit investment strategy. Since 2005, we have invested $10 billion in over 200 directly originated loans,” said Edgar Lee. “Consistent with Oaktree’s investment philosophy, we plan to manage the existing portfolios and originate new loans with an emphasis on fundamental credit analysis and downside protection. We believe this approach makes us an excellent long-term partner for financial sponsors and management teams, and also positions us to deliver attractive, risk-adjusted returns to our BDC shareholders.”
John Frank, Vice Chairman of OCG, has been appointed Chairman of the Boards of Directors of both Oaktree Specialty Lending Corporation and Oaktree Strategic Income Corporation, and Marc Gamsin, Craig Jacobson, Richard Ruben and Bruce Zimmerman have been appointed as new independent directors. The Boards of Directors of both BDCs are comprised of a majority of independent directors.