Ares closes Ares Capital Europe V on €11bn

Harriet Matthews
29 April 2021

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Ares Management has held a final close for Ares Capital Europe V (ACE V), its fifth European direct lending fund, on тЌ11bn.

ACE V was announced in May 2020, according to Unquote Data, and had a target of €9bn. The fund was launched eight months prior to its final close, Ares said in a statement. The vehicle held a first close in November 2020 on €7.43bn.

ACE IV held a final close on its €6.5bn hard-cap in July 2018.

Headquartered in Los Angeles, Ares has a team of 70 professionals in its European offices in London, Frankfurt, Paris, Stockholm, Amsterdam and Madrid.

Investors
Ares' predecessor fund in its European direct lending strategy had around 125 LPs, according to Unquote Data, 70% of which were existing investors. These included US and European pension funds, as well as sovereign wealth funds, endowments, family offices and insurance companies.

ACE V's LP base is also composed of pension funds, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, endowments, asset managers and family offices, the GP said in a statement, adding that existing LPs comprise more than 80% of the fund's commitments.

Investments
ACE V will continue the strategy of its predecessor, providing debt capital to mid-market businesses. Ares generally invests in businesses with EBITDA of at least €10m, providing first lien and junior debt to back both primary and secondary buyouts. The firm aims to maintain control positions in capital structures, according to its website.

The fund has made 11 investments so far, according to a statement, totalling €1.7bn and equating to deployment of around 15%.

People
Ares Management – Blair Jacobson, Michael Dennis (partners, co-heads of European credit); Kipp deVeer (partner, head of Ares Credit Group).