Ares Management closes fourth European fund at €6.5b

Ares Management has held a final closing for its fourth European direct lending fund, Ares Capital Europe IV.

Within six months of its launch, ACE IV was significantly oversubscribed relative to its initial target of €4.5 billion ($5.3 billion), closing at its hard cap of €6.5 billion ($7.6 billion) of total commitments. ACE IV is the largest European direct lending fund raised to date.

This fundraise represents a significant increase from ACE IV’s predecessor fund, Ares Capital Europe III, which held its final close in May 2016 at €2.5 billion ($2.9 billion). Including anticipated leverage, the total available capital for ACE IV will be approximately €10 billion ($12 billion).

Overall, ACE IV received strong support from current investors, with approximately 70 percent of commitments coming from existing Ares investors. ACE IV will be the first Ares European direct lending fund to offer an unlevered sleeve, a structure that has brought a number of fir