Kirkland & Ellis advised Ares Management Corporation (“Ares”), a leading global alternative investment manager, on its sixth commingled European direct lending fund, Ares Capital Europe VI (“ACE VI”). ACE VI recently held its final closing at a total fund size of €17.1 billion, surpassing its €15 billion target and reached its hard cap. Ares believes that ACE VI is the largest institutional fund in the global direct lending market to date based on LP equity commitments. The final ACE VI size represents an approximate 53% increase in LP commitments relative to its predecessor fund, Ares Capital Europe V, which closed in 2021 at its €11.1 billion hard cap. Including related vehicles and anticipated leverage, the total available capital for the Ares European Direct Lending strategy is expected to be approximately €30 billion.

The Kirkland team included investment funds lawyers Stephanie Berdik, Amran Hanif, Yanru Tao, Shivangi Agarwalla, Stephen Giblin, David Melvin, Alessia Henrye and Charlotte Odence; and tax lawyers Meredith Levy, Art Ward, Joseph Riddle and Frankie Beetham.