Ares aiming to raise $500m in listing

According to reports, the company will begin meeting with investors this month.
The listing is expected to value Ares at more than $4bn and is being managed by JP Morgan and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

According to its SEC filing, the company intends to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "ARES".

Ares has £74bn of assets under management and invests through four strategies: private equity, direct lending, tradable credit and real estate. The company generated management fees of $517m and net income of $329m in 2013.

If successful, the listing will highlight the change in attitude towards direct lenders. In October 2012, debt investor Palio Capital Partners, which was founded by former Gresham investment director Mike Henebery, Jerry Wilson and Darren Gibson, looked to raise £150m through a public offering. However, the listing failed to materialise and in February 2013 Palio's founders left the firm to join credit-focused hedge fund Chenavari Investment Managers.

Ares' plans to list signals an improvement in the listed private equity segment, where in the UK, average discounts to NAV have been narrowing and currently stand at around 10%. Read our analysis of the improvements in this market here.

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