What Does Blue Owl Capital Look for in a Borrower? The $300 Million EBITDA Answer

James Clarke didn’t mince words during a Bloomberg interview earlier this year. Asked about the kind of companies his firm lends to, the global head of institutional capital at Blue Owl Capital offered a number that stopped the conversation cold: $300 million in annual earnings.

“The average businesses we lend to are $300 million in earnings and greater,” Clarke said. “No one talks about that.” He’s got a fair point. Private credit commentary through 2025 and into 2026 focused almost entirely on covenant structures, default events, and whether certain high-profile borrower failures pointed to something systemic. The actual size of the companies receiving these loans barely registered in the debate.

What $300 Million in EBITDA Actually Means

Assume a 10x EBITDA multiple, reasonable for the kinds of established, cash-generating businesses Clarke described. A borrower earning $300 million annually would carry an enterprise value of roughly $3 billion. At a 40% loan-to-value ratio, the debt on that company sits around $1.2 billion, leaving approximately $1.8 billion of equity beneath it (https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/blue-owl-capital-s-borrowers-average-300-million-in-ebitda/).

That $1.8 billion equity cushion is the part most analysts skip over. Enterprise value would need to decline by more than 60% before the lender faces a principal loss. For a diversified, upper-middle-market company, that kind of collapse typically involves years of deterioration, not a single bad quarter.

Where Blue Owl Capital’s Numbers Land

Moody’s data puts more specific figures around the claim. OBDC’s borrowers carried a weighted average EBITDA of $229 million as of September 30, 2025, while OCIC’s borrowers averaged $296 million (https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/blue-owl-capital-corporation-upgraded-to-baa2-by-moodys-93CH-4461248). Both figures sit well above the $25 million to $100 million range that defines conventional middle-market lending.

The difference between lending to a $50 million EBITDA company and a $300 million one goes beyond scale. Larger borrowers tend to carry more diversified revenue, deeper capital markets relationships, and stronger refinancing options. When they encounter financial stress, the typical path runs through renegotiation and restructuring rather than immediate default. A senior lender gets more time and more leverage to protect its position.

Clarke’s observation that “no one talks about” borrower size is worth sitting with. Covenants, sectors, and default rates generate debate. Size is quieter as a variable, and possibly more consequential for the lender sitting at the top of the capital structure.