Ares set to close largest ever direct lending fund
Ares Management is set to close the largest ever direct lending fund, which will be valued at more than €20bn (£17.2bn).
The investment firm is looking to raise at least €15bn from investors, according to sources cited by Bloomberg, with additional leverage of around €5bn.
Ares’ co-heads of European credit Blair Jacobson and Michael Dennis jointly run the strategy.
Read more: What is the true size of the private credit market?
In an October earnings call, Ares’ chief executive Mike Arougheti reportedly said that its new fund, Ares Capital Europe VI, was expected to surpass the total size of its previous fund by the second quarter of 2024. That fund had firepower of €15bn, which included €4bn of leverage.
Read more: Private credit returns beat private equity
The $1.5trn private debt market has been booming, largely driven by substantial growth in corporate direct lending as the regulatory and macro environment caused banks to retrench from the sector.
Investment giants like Ares and Blackstone have been deploying more than half the capital between them, fuelling the private debt boom, according to a recent report from the Alternative Credit Council.
