Oaktree Capital looks to raise $15 bln for distressed debt fund -sources

April 15 (Reuters) – U.S. distressed asset manager Oaktree Capital Management is looking to raise $15 billion for a distressed fund, two people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

The new fund comes at a time when disruptions caused by the novel coronavirus outbreak have led to a plunge in company valuations, allowing big distressed debt funds to potentially snap up assets cheaply.

Oaktree did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The news was first reported by Bloomberg on Wednesday. (Reporting by Joshua Franklin and Echo Wang in New York and Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)