Alternative asset management giant Blue Owl is accelerating its expansion into digital infrastructure, raising $1.7 billion for its latest data center-focused fund.
Regulatory filings show that on December 1, the non-traded REIT Blue Owl Digital Infrastructure Trust completed its initial fundraising and commenced operations. As part of its launch, the fund acquired stakes in 11 data centers from affiliated companies at a net value of approximately $1.5 billion (after deducting assumed debt). These facilities primarily serve investment-grade and hyperscale clients.
The fundraising marks another step in Blue Owl’s aggressive push into data centers, following over $50 billion in financing provided this fall for facilities leased to Meta and Oracle.
Earlier, Blue Owl faced market concerns over liquidity after suspending redemptions in another fund, pressuring its stock. However, shares rebounded 2.52% in late Thursday trading, up more than 20% from post-suspension lows. (As of publication, OWL shares have climbed 21.3% from their low.)
**Doubling Down on Digital Infrastructure** The Blue Owl Digital Infrastructure Trust is structured as a private "evergreen" vehicle, allowing continuous fundraising without a fixed term, providing flexibility for long-term asset ownership and operations. The fund targets investments in data centers, fiber networks, communication towers, and related infrastructure assets.
From October 1 to December 1, Blue Owl raised $4.3 billion across its evergreen non-traded funds, with $2.6 billion allocated to its real assets platform and $1.7 billion to its credit platform, reflecting sustained investor interest in its alternative strategies.
The new fund continues Blue Owl’s active moves in digital infrastructure. Last year, it acquired specialist investor IPI Partners for about $1 billion, adding $10.5 billion in assets under management. The firm now reports a pipeline exceeding $100 billion in digital infrastructure projects, signaling further investments ahead.
**Redemption Suspension Fallout** In early November, Blue Owl’s stock hit yearly lows after halting redemptions in an unlisted fund, reaching its lowest level since December 2023.
On November 5, Blue Owl announced plans to merge its $1.8 billion non-traded BDC, Blue Owl Capital Corp. II, into the publicly traded $17.6 billion entity OBDC while suspending redemption requests. Though the firm pledged to resume redemptions in Q1 2024, investors faced immediate paper losses due to OBDC’s ~20% discount to NAV.
Market fears over prolonged redemption pressures and potential "gate" mechanisms triggered a selloff, dragging down both Blue Owl’s parent stock and OBDC, which fell ~22% year-to-date.
Facing backlash, Blue Owl abruptly halted the merger on November 19. Co-founder Craig Packer acknowledged negative media coverage on private credit contributed to the decline, and even a $200 million buyback plan failed to restore confidence.
The episode marked a rare public setback for Blue Owl, which had enjoyed strong growth since its 2021 formation via the merger of Owl Rock and Dyal Capital.
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