Ares Management Corporation has secured $5.3bn (€4.6bn) in total capital commitments for its infrastructure secondaries strategy, with $3.3bn coming from its latest dedicated fund.
The fund manager said the amount raised for Ares Secondaries Infrastructure Solutions III (ASIS III) exceeded its initial $2bn target and was more than triple the size of the 2021 predecessor.
ASIS III is Ares’s first infrastructure secondaries fund following its acquisition of Landmark Partners in 2021, a deal that marked the firm’s move into secondaries.
Landmark raised $915m in May 2021 at the close of its Infrastructure Partners II, an amount that fell short of the fund’s $1.5bn target.
The $5.3bn in total capital raised is inclusive of ASIS III, general-partner commitments and affiliated vehicles, Ares said.
ASIS III targets a diversified portfolio of private infrastructure assets via flexible secondary solutions, such as preferred structures, general partner-led continuation vehicles, and traditional limited-partner interest acquisitions, the manager said.
Blair Jacobson, co-president of Ares, said: “With this latest fundraise, we are confident that our leading infrastructure secondaries team is well positioned to invest its substantial capital base in attractive value-creation opportunities.
“Over the last four years, our secondaries business has accelerated its scaling and differentiation to meet the growing demand for creative liquidity solutions, leveraging the resources, capabilities and relationships of the global Ares platform. We have continued to emphasise product specialisation across asset classes, including infrastructure, as we seek to better support private markets investors through cycles.”
Edward Keith III, partner and head of Ares infrastructure secondaries, said: “As private infrastructure reaches a new phase of growth and the infrastructure secondaries market becomes increasingly dynamic, we believe managers with experience, scale and creativity have an unprecedented investment opportunity.
“This fundraise is a testament to the strength of the integrated global Ares secondaries platform and our team’s ability to innovate and find novel capital solutions to solve the challenges faced by limited partners and general partners. We appreciate the outstanding support from our investors, and we look forward to the exciting potential growth ahead.”
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