Ares Management IPO Raises Permanent Capital and Creates Liquidity for Founders’ Interests

Alternative investment manager Ares Management is in the process of creating and offering a publicly-traded limited partnership to hold its asset management business.  Its recently filed registration statement on form S-1 indicates that the offering will be for $100 million of limited partnership interests in Ares Management, L.P.  Ares is following in the footsteps of other alternative asset managers, such as Oaktree Capital, which have sought to monetize the value of their management businesses to provide capital for expansion, to assist founders and employees in cashing out and to facilitate succession.  See “Mechanics of a Hedge Fund Manager IPO,” Hedge Fund Law Report, Vol. 5, No. 16 (Apr. 19, 2012).  See also “Succession Planning Series: Selling a Hedge Fund Founder’s Interest to an Outside Investor (Part Two of Two),” Hedge Fund Law Report, Vol. 7, No. 2 (Jan. 16, 2014).  Other fund managers have gone to the public markets as an alternate source of capital for private equity-type investments (see “Anatomy of a Blank Check IPO by a Hedge Fund Manager,” Hedge Fund Law Report, Vol. 7, No. 13 (Apr. 4, 2014)) and to fund “permanent capital” vehicles for specific purposes, such as the acquisition of mortgage-backed securities (see “Prospectus for Suspended Ellington Financial IPO Details Mechanics of a Hedge Fund Permanent Capital Vehicle,” Hedge Fund Law Report, Vol. 2, No. 50 (Dec. 17, 2009)).

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