Ares Closes European Direct Lending Fund at €17.1B Hard Cap

Ares Management announced on January 14 the final close of Ares Capital Europe VI at its hard cap of €17.1B (~$17.60B), surpassing the €15B (~$15.44B) target, for what the firm said it believes to be the largest institutional fund to date in the global direct lending market. 

Its predecessor, Ares Capital Europe V, closed in 2021 at its €11.1B (~$11.42B) hard cap. Like its predecessor, ACE VI aims to provide financing solutions to European companies in defense-related industries with EBITDA surpassing €10M (~$10.29M). To date, the fund has already made commitments totaling €5.4B in more than 50 investments.

Investors in the sixth fund under Ares' European direct lending strategy include Maine Public Employees' Retirement System, Merced County Employees' Retirement Association, the California Public Employees' Retirement System, and the Virginia Retirement System, according to Dakota data.

The latest fundraising increased the capital and total AUM under Ares' European direct lending strategy to €30B (~$30.86B) and €74B (~$76.14B), respectively. Since its launch, the strategy has completed more than €70B (~$72.03B) of investments across 380 transactions.