Blue Owl's Craig Packer: We're not halting redemptions, we're just changing the form

"I think most in the industry that follow this say the ability for us to sell that size at these prices is actually a validation of value. And people have been asking questions about marks and here we are with significant third party sales at par." A primary bear thesis for the Private Credit sector is that portfolios are marked artificially high and lack liquidity. A $1.4B sale at par acts as a hard data point refuting this, suggesting the asset class is healthier than critics claim. This validation should lift sentiment across the broader sector and public BDCs (like OBDC). Bullish for the sector as valuation concerns are alleviated by transactional evidence. If it turns out the sold assets were "cherry-picked" (despite Packer's denial) and the remaining book is toxic, the sector validation would be false.

"We're not halting redemptions, just changing the form and if anything, we're accelerating redemptions... We sold $1.4 billion... at par, fair value, 99.7." The market sell-off was driven by a headline risk ("halting redemptions") that implies distress. The reality is the opposite: they have ample liquidity and are returning 6x more capital than usual. The ability to sell a massive cross-section of the portfolio at par validates the book's value and dispels the "fake marks" bear case. As the market realizes the "halt" is actually a shareholder-friendly acceleration of liquidity, the stock should re-rate. Long OWL to fade the knee-jerk negative reaction to the headline. Continued skepticism regarding the "related party" nature of the buyers (insurance clients managed by Blue Owl), or broader credit deterioration in the remaining portfolio.