Ares holds $8 billion first close for senior direct lending

Ares Management held a first close of more than $8 billion in equity commitments for its latest U.S. senior direct lending program, the firm said Thursday on its third-quarter earnings call.

The raise spans Ares Senior Direct Lending Fund IV, its fourth closed-end U.S. senior direct lending fund, and Ares Senior Direct Lending Core, its first open-ended institutional product. Both launched about six months ago. The combined first close equals 80% of the program's target and is 60% larger than the prior vintage's first close, implying a combined target a little above $10 billion of equity.

For an allocator, Fund IV is a closed-end vehicle whose initial closings, including anticipated fund-level leverage, represent roughly $15 billion of total investable capital. That means each dollar of equity supports close to two dollars of lending capacity. Core is open-ended and institutional, built for LPs who want senior loans without re-underwriting a new vintage every few years. That moves the diligence question from vintage to liquidity terms.

A person familiar with the matter said Fund IV has secured almost $6 billion of equity and the Core vehicle more than $2 billion. The prior flagship ultimately surpassed $15 billion of equity commitments, a record for an institutional direct lending fund, HedgeCo News reported.

The close follows Ares Capital's agreement to buy MFIC from Apollo for $2.6 billion, as Private Wealth Daily previously reported. Ares expects additional closes this year, with fundraising for the program running through the first half of 2027.