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Ares Management$ARES · filed: grew revenue 44.2% in FY2025 to $5.6BSound shipNext year $5.3B–$10.1B sealedCheck ▾Close ▴
What Ares Management filed
Grew revenue 44.2% in FY2025 to $5.6 billion, equity 14.9% of assets, and dividend per share up 1 year running. Every figure links to the filing it came from on Ares Management’s card. Sound ship: one warning sign.
What the house said in advance
Revenue for the fiscal year after 2025-12-31 between $5.3B and $10.1B, an 80% range sealed on 27 Sept 2026 · receipt #ddbb3e · graded in public by the revenue in Ares Management’s next annual report.
Figures as filed with the SEC. Ranges, scores and boats are statistical descriptions of past filings, not ratings or recommendations. Reporting, not advice.
In plain words
Ares sets **$3.4B** secondary pricing at **91 cents** on NAV, establishing first observable benchmark for European direct-lending liquidity at scale.
$3.4 billion
of bundled limited partner interests in its flagship European…
18-22 points
below net asset value in 2023 before compressing to
8-12 points
in recent quarters
91 cents
on NAV
Ares Management is selling $3.4 billion of bundled limited partner interests in its flagship European direct-lending fund, a transaction that would eclipse previous private credit secondary records and signal a structural shift in how allocators view liquidity in illiquid asset classes. The sale involves stakes across multiple vintage years in Ares European Credit Fund, the firm's largest regional direct-lending vehicle, with settlement expected in Q4 2024.
The transaction follows eighteen months of muted secondary activity in private credit, where bid-ask spreads widened to 18-22 points below net asset value in 2023 before compressing to 8-12 points in recent quarters. Ares structured the sale as a portfolio offering rather than individual fund interests, attracting institutional buyers who typically avoid piecemeal secondary deals. The buyers include three dedicated secondaries funds and two sovereign wealth vehicles, according to market participants familiar with the terms. Pricing landed at approximately 91 cents on NAV, reflecting renewed confidence in European corporate credit quality and the scarcity value of seasoned direct-lending exposure.
The sale matters because it provides observable price discovery in a segment where valuations remain dealer-marked and infrequently tested. Ares European Credit Fund holds €4.2 billion in committed capital across 87 portfolio companies, predominantly in healthcare, software, and industrials. The fund's weighted average loan-to-value sits at 42%, with a 6.8% current yield and 11.2% gross IRR through Q1 2024. By monetizing a significant portion while retaining fund economics through GP-led continuation vehicles, Ares demonstrates a liquidity pathway that other managers will study and replicate. The transaction also suggests that institutional LPs are willing to accept modest discounts for immediate liquidity rather than wait for fund maturities that may extend into 2029-2031.
Allocators should monitor three developments: first, whether competing managers pursue similar portfolio sales before year-end, which would establish $10-15 billion in secondary volume and reset pricing benchmarks across European private credit; second, how the transaction affects Ares's ability to raise its next European direct-lending fund, with a target of €6 billion expected in H1 2025; third, whether the pricing achieved—91 cents—becomes a reference point for pension funds and endowments seeking to rebalance overweight private credit exposures built during 2020-2022 vintage years.
The timing coincides with European corporate default rates stabilizing at 3.1% for direct-lending portfolios, down from 4.8% in Q4 2023, and spread compression in European leveraged loans suggesting credit markets have repriced post-hike risk. Ares exits at scale while retaining upside through structured economics, and the buyers acquire diversified exposure at a discount to par in a segment where primary commitments now require 24-36 month deployment timelines.
Branded by POPS4 · proof in 60 seconds
For the principal
Request quarterly secondaries pricing from your private credit managers; this Ares sale establishes 91 cents as the new liquidity benchmark for rebalancing overweight exposures.
For the operator
Model 8-12 point discounts for European direct-lending secondaries; buyers at 91 cents imply 11.2% IRRs remain achievable through fund maturity in seasoned vintages.
For the house
We watch for follow-on portfolio sales from Apollo and Blue Owl in Q3; Huang Goodman maintains European credit overweight but hedges duration through secondaries allocations.
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