Rithm Capital Corp has finally come out on top in the battle to acquire Sculptor Capital Management and its $32.8bn in assets under management, having on Friday completed a $12.70 per share takeover in a deal valued at approximately $719.8m.
Sculptor’s common stock will cease trading on the New York Stock Exchange and will be delisted.
The deal comes after several months of bids, counter bids and litigation that failed to derail the transaction but did force Rithm to finally agree to pay considerably more than the $11.15 per share it initially offered back in July.
That bid was opposed by the firm’s founder Dan Och, who left the business in 2019, but remained a large shareholder, and a number of other former executives at the firm, and also prompted a rival offer from an investor group headed by Saba Capital Management Boss Boaz Weinstein. The rival group bid up to $13.50 a share but was continually rebuffed by Sculptor on the basis that the Rithm deal was more likely to complete.
In a surprise move, and following months of opposition to the Rithm deal and the terms on offer to his one-time protege and Sculptor Chief Investment Officer Jimmy Levin, Och agreed to back Rithm’s improved $12.70 a share offer late last month after the firm also reportedly pledged to adjust Levin’s employment contract.
In a press statement on Friday, Levin said: “We are extremely happy to combine forces with Rithm. This transaction positions us for long-term success and our team is invigorated to continue our mission of providing attractive returns to our fund investors.”
