Ares Management LP

Awayday, a leading vacation rental management company, announced it has closed a significant investment from Warburg Pincus, made through the Warburg Pincus Capital Solutions Founders Fund. The Company's majority owners, an Ares Private Equity fund and LightBay Capital, will remain the controlling shareholders, and terms of the investment were not disclosed. Awayday manages more than 18,000 properties across the United States through a portfolio of local brands, supported by more than 1,800 team members. Proceeds from the investment will be used to return capital to existing equity investors, including Ares, LightBay, and its rollover equity partners, and to deliver proceeds to the leading local operators and supporting team members who have driven the Company's growth through its field-first model. Warburg Pincus Capital Solutions Founders Fund closed in September 2024 with over $4 billion in commitments, and Warburg Pincus has more than $105 billion in assets under management.

Ares Management has raised about US$4.20 billion for its inaugural Ares Global Structured Solutions Fund, far above its US$1.0 billion target. The firm's funds also contributed US$2.0 billion to a US$6.5 billion financing for Phoenix Tower International and over €1.00 billion to a Plenitude capital reorganization, transactions that have already taken place. The outsized fundraise and the pair of large financings underscore Ares' ability to source substantial capital and structure complex solutions for sponsors and portfolio companies across infrastructure and energy. The new fund complements prior real assets initiatives such as the Japan logistics platform and ties directly into Ares' core catalyst of expanding across asset classes and geographies to grow fee-paying assets under management. Ares Management's narrative projects $6.9 billion in revenue and $2.0 billion in earnings by 2029, requiring 9.5% yearly revenue growth and a roughly $1.5 billion earnings increase from $487.4 million today.

Ares Management Corporation announced that certain of its funds provided $2.0 billion of a $6.5 billion multi-jurisdiction financing for Phoenix Tower International, funding approximately $1.8 billion at closing. The new debt facility will consolidate PTI's existing loans and add substantial capacity for growth across existing and new markets globally. PTI operates more than 33,000 wireless sites across 23 countries, and the deal represents one of the largest private credit financings to date in the towers sector. PTI Chief Financial Officer Michael Bremer called the $6.5 billion financing the largest of its kind for a privately held tower company, reflecting lender confidence across 23 jurisdictions. Roopa Murthy, Partner and Co-Head of EMEA Infrastructure Debt at Ares, said the firm looks forward to supporting PTI's next phase of growth alongside Blackstone and the broader sponsor group.

Ares Management Corporation announced that Ares Alternative Credit funds participated in a reorganization of Plenitude's shareholding and governance structure, through which Ares and Eni S.p.A upsized their capital contribution by approximately €1.5 billion, of which over €1 billion is attributable to Ares, based on a pre-money equity valuation of Plenitude of €10.75 billion. Following completion of the transaction, Ares holds 26.24% of Plenitude's share capital, Eni holds 65.03%, and Energy Infrastructure Partners holds 8.73%. Ares first invested in Plenitude in 2025, acquiring a 20% stake in the business for approximately €2 billion. The transaction is geared towards strengthening Plenitude's capital structure and introduces an enhanced governance framework, with Ares and Eni jointly controlling the company. Ares will appoint three of Plenitude's Board members, including Stefano Questa as Chairman, while Eni appoints five, including the CEO, and EIP appoints one.

Ares Management Corporation expects its assets under management to exceed $750 billion by 2028, up from $671.3 billion as of June 30, 2026. Total AUM rose 17% year over year at the end of the second quarter of 2026, with fee-paying AUM climbing at the same pace to $409.9 billion, and AUM has grown at a 19% CAGR since 2013. Annual gross fundraising reached $133 billion for the 12 months ended June 2026, up from $56 billion in second-quarter 2021, a 19% CAGR over five years, while the company raised $36.4 billion in capital, recorded $34.4 billion in net inflows and deployed $35.9 billion in the second quarter of 2026. Ares Management held roughly $170 billion in available capital as of June 30, 2026, and acquisitions including GCP International and BlueCove have expanded its real assets, digital infrastructure and systematic fixed income capabilities. Management also targets 16-20% or more annual organic growth in fee-related earnings and above 20% annual growth in realized income over the medium term.

Private credit funds showed signs of stabilizing in September as redemption requests from individual investors eased and investment performance improved after a difficult start to the year, the Financial Times reported Sunday. Flagship funds managed by Apollo Global, Ares and BlackRock reported lower withdrawal requests in the third quarter, while redemptions at Blackstone's large private credit fund held roughly steady. Ares Strategic Income Fund said investors requested withdrawals equal to 13.1% of shares during the third quarter, down from 14.4% in the prior period, while at Apollo's roughly $15 billion flagship debt fund redemption requests fell to 14.7% from 16.8%. Requests at BlackRock's HPS corporate lending fund declined to 11.5% from 13.3%, while Blackstone's $43 billion flagship private credit vehicle held steady at about 10%. Across 13 non-traded business development companies that have reported third-quarter results, investors requested $9.6 billion in withdrawals, or 10.1% of fund value, down from 11.2% in the second quarter, according to RA Stanger. Despite the improvement, the four vehicles fulfilled less than half of requested withdrawals on average as redemption limits remained in place, and limited inflows and constrained asset growth could keep management-fee expansion weak while softer performance is expected to reduce incentive fees.

Ares Management and Canada's Public Sector Pension Investment Board have formed a joint venture to invest up to $2.4B in U.S. logistics real estate. The venture will target cash-flowing assets in high-growth markets and launches with a 5.2M-square-foot seed portfolio of 14 properties across key U.S. industrial hubs including California, Texas, and New Jersey. The partnership combines Ares Real Estate's vertically integrated logistics investment capabilities and sourcing network with PSP Investments' scaled capital. Dave Fazekas, head of North America Logistics at Ares Real Estate, cited accelerating onshoring, digital infrastructure buildout, and e-commerce growth as factors strengthening fundamentals for strategically placed logistics facilities. Marq Logistics, which represents Ares Real Estate's global logistics platform, will lead sourcing and manage the assets within the joint venture.

Ares Management Corporation and The Scion Group have acquired four U.S. student housing communities for approximately $435 million, adding 2,316 beds near the University of Georgia, University of Tennessee, and Texas State University. This is the second major transaction for the Ares-Scion partnership in 2026, following their $910 million acquisition of 12 student housing communities in May, bringing their total student-housing investments this year to roughly $1.35 billion. The properties are located in markets where Scion already operates, which should make integration and management more efficient. Following the acquisition, Scion will operate nearly 117,000 beds across 187 communities in 92 U.S. markets. The deal reflects Ares' strategy to scale efficiently by purchasing groups of properties, capitalizing on resilient student housing demand driven by enrollment growth and limited on-campus supply.

Ares Management's real estate arm has raised ¥612 billion, or $4 billion, for its fifth Japan logistics development fund, marking the largest closed-end institutional fundraise to date for the unit. The fund, Japan Logistics Development Partners V LP, reached its hard cap and is nearly 50% larger than its 2021 predecessor. It will primarily invest in developing modern logistics facilities across Japan's major metropolitan markets, including Greater Tokyo, Greater Osaka, and Nagoya. The vehicle attracted commitments from pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurers, and other institutional investors globally, with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board committing ¥150 billion, or $968 million, as a cornerstone investor. JDP V has a total investment capacity of ¥1.7 trillion, or $11 billion, and Ares has already committed to projects representing about ¥450 billion in total investment.

FORTNA has entered into an agreement with holders of 74% of its funded debt and its sponsors to strengthen its financial foundation and transition ownership to existing lenders, including funds managed by Ares Management. The recapitalization is expected to reduce funded debt by approximately $1.8 billion and cut annual interest expense by more than $150 million, while providing a fully committed equity cash infusion of about $150 million from certain existing lenders. The company said it continues to operate normally and expects to complete the transaction in the coming weeks, subject to standard closing conditions. FORTNA is a global leader in automation and software for the full logistics value chain.

Asset management stocks delivered a very strong second quarter, with the five companies tracked by this analysis beating revenue consensus estimates by 8.4% on average. Ares reported revenues of $1.28 billion, up 25.6% year on year, in line with analyst expectations but with a narrow beat on AUM estimates, and its stock is up 15.6% since reporting to $143.45. Carlyle posted revenues of $1.11 billion, up 13% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 20.7%, though its stock is down 2.6% since reporting to $49.35. Artisan Partners reported revenues of $307.9 million, up 8.9% year on year, exceeding expectations by 2.3%, with the stock up 3.6% to $42.35. Blackstone reported revenues of $3.83 billion, up 23.8% year on year, beating expectations by 10.9%, and its stock is up 17.5% to $144.36. TPG reported revenues of $610.4 million, up 24.7% year on year, topping expectations by 7.8%, with the stock up 9.3% to $53.54.

Ares Management reported second quarter 2026 results including revenue of US$1,428.61 million and net income of US$150.64 million, and affirmed quarterly dividends on both common and preferred stock. The announcements contributed to a sharp short-term rebound, with a 30-day share price return of 17.49% and a 90-day gain of 16.18%, though the year-to-date return remains down 13.96% and the one-year total shareholder return is down 23.02%. Longer-term holders have still seen meaningful gains, with three- and five-year total shareholder returns of 60.64% and 131.21% respectively. The stock last closed at $143.11, slightly below a widely followed fair value estimate of about $145.24, implying it is about 1.5% undervalued. However, the current price-to-earnings ratio of 56.8 times stands far above the fair ratio of 24.5 times and the US Capital Markets industry average of 37.9 times, suggesting meaningful valuation risk if sentiment or earnings expectations shift.

Ares Management Corp. is leading a $2.2 billion direct loan to support pharmacy benefits manager MedImpact Holdings Inc.'s planned purchase of Medical Card System, Inc., a Puerto Rico-based healthcare services company. The loan could pay at least 8 percentage points over the benchmark rate and would be secured on a second-lien basis, raising borrowing costs. At $2.2 billion, the deal would be one of the largest this year in the $1.8 trillion private credit market, which has faced record redemptions and sluggish private equity dealmaking. Discussions are ongoing and details are still being finalized.

Ares Management reported record quarterly fundraising of $36 billion in the second quarter of 2026, driving a 17% year-over-year increase in total assets under management to approximately $671 billion. Fee-paying AUM rose 17% to approximately $410 billion, while management fees exceeded $1 billion for the quarter, up 14% from the prior year. Fee-related earnings grew 20% to approximately $491 million, and realized income increased 31% to approximately $522 million, with after-tax realized income per share of $1.29, a 25% gain. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.35 per share, over 20% higher than the same quarter a year ago, and ended the period with $170 billion of dry powder and $114 billion of AUM not yet paying fees. CEO Michael Arougheti highlighted accelerating institutional demand for private credit and noted that the firm remains on track to meet its full-year financial objectives, consistent with long-term compound annual growth targets of 16% to 20% for fee-related earnings and over 20% for realized income.

Ares Capital and Blue Owl Capital reported resilient second-quarter results, while Ares Management posted record fundraising, highlighting continued institutional demand for private credit despite rising defaults, retail redemptions and liquidity concerns. Ares Management raised a record $36 billion in the second quarter, including $23.7 billion for its credit strategies, and its assets under management rose 17% from a year earlier to $671.3 billion. Ares Capital, the largest publicly traded business development company, reported core earnings of 47 cents per share, in line with the LSEG consensus estimate, and maintained its quarterly dividend with about $6 billion of available liquidity as of July 23. Blue Owl Capital reported $319 billion of assets under management at the end of June, up 12% from a year earlier, and its distributable earnings rose 9%, matching analysts' average estimate. However, Fitch Ratings said the U.S. private-credit default rate rose to a record 6.0% in the 12 months through June, from 5.7% in the previous quarter, with 32 default events in the second quarter involving 20 new borrowers. Retail-focused private-credit funds continued to receive redemption requests well above their normal quarterly repurchase limits, with second-quarter redemption requests reaching 38.1% of net asset value at Blue Owl Technology Income Corp, 18.9% at Blue Owl Credit Income Corp and 16.8% at Apollo Debt Solutions, while most funds repurchased shares equivalent to about 5% of net asset value during the quarter. Evercore estimated global private credit secondary-market volume reached $20.4 billion in the first half of 2026, up 122% from a year earlier and exceeding the total recorded in all of 2025, with GP-led deals accounting for 83% of the total.

Ares Management Corporation reported second-quarter non-GAAP earnings per share of $1.29, beating analyst estimates by $0.02. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.35 per share for its Class A and non-voting common stock, payable on September 30, 2026 to shareholders of record as of September 16, 2026.

Eni raised its stock buyback program by €600 million to €3.4 billion after second-quarter adjusted net profit more than doubled to €2.33 billion, beating analyst consensus of €2.09 billion. The Italian energy company also said it may pay an extra dividend in the fourth quarter if Brent crude prices remain substantially above its forecasts. Underlying oil and gas production grew 7% in the quarter, and Eni now targets full-year production growth of about 5%, up from a previous 3% to 4% range. Underlying cash flow from operations is expected to reach €15 billion. Separately, Eni will receive a $2 billion capital contribution from Ares Management under a partnership involving some of its oil and gas infrastructures.

Revolut has introduced private market funds on its platform for eligible customers in Europe through collaboration with Apollo, Ares, Hamilton Lane and Partners Group. The offering gives individual investors access to assets across private equity, private credit and private infrastructure through fund structures intended for non-institutional investors. The funds are set up under the EU's ELTIF 2.0 regime and are evergreen with periodic liquidity windows. Revolut, which has 75 million customers globally, said the new product is aimed at experienced investors with a long-term investment horizon. Fund management and performance fees apply.

Ares Management Corporation has completed its all-cash acquisition of Whitestone REIT for $19.00 per share, valuing the transaction at approximately $1.7 billion. The deal adds 54 convenience-focused retail properties totaling about 4.8 million square feet to Ares Real Estate's portfolio, located in fast-growing U.S. markets including Phoenix, Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. Whitestone will no longer be publicly traded following the acquisition. Citigroup Global Markets Inc. served as lead financial advisor and financing provider to Ares, with Morgan Stanley also acting as financial advisor and financing provider, while BofA Securities advised Whitestone and provided a fairness opinion.

The Premier Lacrosse League has raised $100 million in its latest funding round, led by Ares Management funds and Alibaba billionaire Joe Tsai. Co-founder Paul Rabil says part of the capital will help reduce youth lacrosse expenses, where families can spend up to $25,000 annually. The league aims to lower costs to boost participation and fandom, rather than focusing on margins. Lacrosse is set to return to the Olympics in 2028 for the first time in over a century, which Rabil calls the biggest moment in the sport's history.

Ares Management is broadening investor access to its private market strategies through a new partnership with Clearstream, while also raising fresh capital via Ares Acquisition Corporation III's roughly US$395 million SPAC IPO. The Clearstream tie-up aims to plug Ares' private market strategies into Clearstream's platform, targeting broader wealth and retail channels to boost fee-paying assets under management. Analysts note that while these moves reinforce the firm's growth story, they also heighten exposure to risks such as retail flow volatility and evolving regulation. The announcements come as Ares plans a larger Asia-focused direct lending fund, underscoring its push into alternative assets. Some analysts project Ares could reach US$6.9 billion in revenue and US$1.9 billion in earnings by 2029, though more cautious estimates put earnings at US$1.5 billion, reflecting differing views on distribution costs and fee growth.

Artisan Partners reported first-quarter revenues of $303 million, a 9.3% year-on-year increase that met analyst expectations, though earnings per share significantly missed estimates. Among the five asset management stocks tracked, TPG was the best performer with revenues of $570 million, up 20.7% and beating estimates by 5.2%, while Carlyle was the weakest with revenues of $750.9 million, down 28% and missing estimates by 13%. Ares posted the fastest revenue growth at 26.2% to $1.27 billion, and Blackstone reported revenues of $3.46 billion, up 24.2% and beating estimates by 1.4%. As a group, revenues missed consensus estimates by 1.8%, and share prices have fallen an average of 8.9% since the earnings releases.

Ares Acquisition Corporation III has closed its upsized initial public offering, raising total gross proceeds of $395 million. The offering consisted of 34.5 million units sold at $10.00 each, plus an additional 5 million units sold through the partial exercise of the underwriters' over-allotment option. Each unit comprises one Class A ordinary share and one-tenth of a redeemable warrant, with each whole warrant exercisable for one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share. The company's sponsor is a subsidiary of Ares Management Corporation, a global alternative investment manager with approximately $644 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2026. The units began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol AAC.U on June 30, 2026.

TD Cowen raised its price target on Ares Management from $144 to $153 while reiterating a Buy rating. The adjustment follows meetings with management and reflects an updated model accounting for the treatment of X-Energy. Ares Management reported weaker-than-expected first-quarter earnings but saw assets under management growth exceed estimates, with credit quality remaining healthy. The firm raised $30 billion of gross capital in the first quarter and remains on track for another record fundraising year.

Oppenheimer downgraded several large U.S. bank stocks on Tuesday, arguing that rich valuations have left little room for further upside. The brokerage downgraded Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to Underperform from Perform, while cutting Bank of America and Citigroup to Perform from Outperform. It maintained Outperform ratings on PNC Financial Services and U.S. Bancorp, recommending investors rotate into alternative asset managers such as ARES Management, Blackstone, and KKR. Oppenheimer said the banking sector has shifted from years of structural undervaluation to valuations that now reflect optimism over sustained earnings growth, with commercial banks trading near the upper end of historical valuation ranges and investment banks trading well above long-term averages. The firm raised its second-quarter 2026 earnings estimates and lifted its 2027 forecasts, now expecting the investment banking wallet to reach about 46 basis points of U.S. nominal GDP, roughly 20% to 25% above what it considers a normal level.

Ares Management held the final close of its Pathfinder Fund III above its original target, securing US$8.5 billion in commitments. The firm also expanded its infrastructure debt leadership team, appointing Brent Canada as Head of Infrastructure Debt and adding senior hires in EMEA and APAC. In addition, Ares launched a major industrial real estate development in the Raleigh Durham region in partnership with Hines, and is participating in a Bank of England stress test for private markets. The stock has fallen 32.4% year to date, closing at $112.47.

StockStory highlights Ares Management as a mid-cap stock to own for decades, while questioning Lennar and Elanco Animal Health. Ares, with a market cap of $29.95 billion, posted 23.2% annual revenue growth and 21.3% annual EPS growth over the past five years, and trades at 20.1 times forward P/E. Lennar, a $23.32 billion homebuilder, saw its backlog decline by an average of 9.2% and EPS fall 8.9% annually despite revenue growth, and trades at 13.2 times forward P/E. Elanco, a $12.01 billion animal health company, grew revenue just 4.9% annually, saw its adjusted operating margin shrink by 2.9 percentage points, and trades at 22.4 times forward P/E.

Ares Management Corporation appears better positioned than KKR & Co. Inc. for long-term shareholder returns, according to a Zacks Investment Research analysis. ARES benefits from stronger earnings growth expectations, with consensus estimates implying year-over-year rises of 27.3% for 2026 and 24.4% for 2027, and offers a significantly higher dividend yield of 4.2% after a 20.5% quarterly dividend hike to $1.35 per share. KKR trades at a lower forward price-to-earnings multiple of 15.7X versus ARES' 19.14X and targets at least $1 trillion in assets under management by 2030, but its dividend yield stands at just 0.8%. Both firms carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Ares Management has posted a 23.2% compound annual revenue growth rate and 21.3% annual EPS growth over the past five years, underscoring strong momentum and profitability. The stock has fallen 22.3% in the last six months to $129.45, partly due to softer quarterly results, and now trades at 21.5 times forward earnings. The firm, which originated from Apollo Management’s leveraged finance group, manages private equity, credit, real estate, and infrastructure assets for institutional and high-net-worth clients.