Blackstone, Blue Owl Among Lenders on $2.65 Billion Private Debt for New Relic Deal

Private lenders including Blackstone Inc., Blue Owl Capital Inc. and Sixth Street Partners have agreed to provide a $2.65 billion private debt package to support Francisco Partners and TPG Inc.’s acquisition of software maker New Relic Inc., according to people with knowledge of the matter.

(Bloomberg) — Private lenders including Blackstone Inc., Blue Owl Capital Inc. and Sixth Street Partners have agreed to provide a $2.65 billion private debt package to support Francisco Partners and TPG Inc.’s acquisition of software maker New Relic Inc., according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The deal — set to be one of the largest direct-lending transactions so far this year — is split into a $2.4 billion term loan and a $250 million revolving credit facility, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because details of the transaction are private. Pricing on the term loan is 6.75 percentage points over the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, the person added. 

Representatives for Francisco Partners, TPG, Blackstone, Blue Owl and Sixth Street declined to comment. 9fin first reported some details of the financing.

The acquisition, which was announced on Monday, gives New Relic an equity valuation of $6.5 billion, according to a company statement, and the deal is expected to close later this year or in early 2024.

For buyout firms looking for large amounts of debt to back their deals, the $1.5 trillion private credit market has become a popular alternative to publicly-traded debt markets. Private credit firm HPS Investment Partners is set to provide a €1.5 billion ($1.6 billion) loan package to help fund One Rock Capital Partners’ buyout of Constantia Flexibles GmbH, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, a deal that will also rank among the largest private loans this year. 

(Updates to add details on deal structure, size and pricing.)

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