Blue Owl Capital Corporation and Blue Owl Capital Corporation III have received endorsements from proxy advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis & Co. for their proposed merger. ISS, in a report dated January 2, 2025, stated, "The strategic rationale for the merger appears sound. Specifically, the combined company will have increased scale that may improve trading dynamics and long-term expense savings from operating synergies." Glass Lewis noted on December 24, 2024, "Given their largely similar investment mandates, portfolio strategies, and risk-return profiles, we believe a merger of these two BDCs should be relatively straightforward to execute."
Craig W. Packer, CEO of both OBDC and OBDE, expressed satisfaction with the support from ISS and Glass Lewis: "We are pleased that ISS and Glass Lewis support our Boards' unanimous recommendation that shareholders vote 'FOR' the pending merger. The merger is expected to significantly enhance OBDC's scale and diversification."
Special meetings for shareholders are scheduled for January 8, 2025. Both companies urge shareholders to cast their votes by January 7 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.
For further details about the proposed merger or voting procedures, shareholders can visit www.proxyvote.com or contact Broadridge at specified numbers provided for each company's shareholders.
Blue Owl Capital Corporation focuses on lending to U.S. middle-market companies with investments valued at $13.4 billion as of September 30, 2024. Blue Owl Capital Corporation III also lends to U.S. middle-market companies with investments valued at $4.2 billion as of the same date.
Both companies are regulated as business development companies under the Investment Company Act of 1940.