Goldman Sachs veteran Chris Crampton has joined Blue Owl Capital as managing director with an eye to launching a new strategy focused on single-asset GP-led secondary transactions or continuation fund investments.
Crampton previously served as a partner and head of services and industrials private equity investing within the Merchant Banking and Asset Management Divisions of Goldman Sachs. He brings experience across a range of investment vehicle types, asset classes and sectors while at Goldman, including traditional buyout, infrastructure, growth/technology, hybrid equity, distressed and private credit funds.
The new Blue Owl Strategic Equity Strategy is poised to benefit from Blue Owl’s direct lending and GP capital solutions divisions, officials said in the announcement of Crampton’s hire.
“Creating a complementary equity and secondaries strategy for our clients is a natural extension of Blue Owl’s existing business given our sizable origination funnel and deep relationships with leading financial sponsors,” said Doug Ostrover, CEO and co-founder of Blue Owl Capital, which has $138 billion in assets under management. “Combining Blue Owl’s global platform with Chris Crampton’s extensive investment experience in private markets further reinforces our value proposition as a leading solutions provider to the alternative asset management industry.”
For his part, Crampton commented on what he saw as a “nascent but rapidly growing” asset class. “I look forward to bringing this differentiated offering to market and working with Doug and the team to leverage the substantial synergies ross the unique Blue Owl investment platform,” he said.
