Rithm Capital Corp. scrapped plans to increase its offer for Sculptor Capital Management Inc. to $12.20 a share after talks to secure Dan Och’s support fell apart as he publicly called a competing bid attractive.
The initial bid of $11.15 a share, or $639 million, still stood as of Wednesday, Sculptor said in an amended proxy filing. That compares to an unsolicited rival offer of $13 a share from a consortium of ultra-wealthy suitors led by Saba Capital Management’s Boaz Weinstein.
Late last month, Rithm weighed boosting its bid to win support from Och, who founded Sculptor, left in 2019 and remains one of its largest shareholders. Their agreement, which was close to being finalized, collapsed this week, after Och read news reports about Weinstein’s latest bid and issued a statement calling it “more attractive” and urging Sculptor to engage with the consortium.
Rithm then decided to “discontinue engagement” with Och, according to the proxy.
Read More: Sculptor Jumps as Weinstein Lifts Bid, Rithm Mulls New Offer
As of Wednesday, Sculptor was continuing to evaluate Weinstein’s offer and would “continue to engage with Rithm regarding potential improvements” to its bid, according to the latest proxy, which was filed after US markets closed Thursday.
Weinstein’s group includes billionaires Bill Ackman, Marc Lasry and Jeff Yass.
Shares of New York-based Sculptor closed Thursday at $12.25. The stock has lost more than half of its value over the past two years.
Under the scrapped Rithm offer, Levin’s previously agreed upon limit of $30 million in annual pay would include all payments received in that calendar year. It also stipulated that if he decided to leave the firm, he would forfeit unvested deferred compensation and retention awards, and face a 12-month non-compete agreement.
(Updates with description of Och’s comment on rival bid and Rithm’s response from first paragraph.)
