Ares Management in Talks to Acquire GLP Capital Partners: Report
By Nick Trombola June 13, 2024 5:11 pm
reprints
A pair of global investment management firms are reportedly in talks to merge as massive real estate companies continue to consume their competitors.
Los Angeles-based Ares Management (ARES) is in talks to join forces with GLP Capital Partners’ (GCP) operations outside of China, representing $66 billion in assets under management across the U.S., Europe, Brazil, Japan and Southeast Asia, according to Bloomberg, which cited confidential sources with knowledge of the discussions.
Ares has become one of the largest alternative asset management firms in the world since its founding in 1997, with nearly $430 billion under its wing and more than 35 offices spread over the globe. Even still, the firm revealed last month that it intends to swell its portfolio past $750 billion, growing more than 75 percent, by the end of 2028.
How does a firm of that size achieve such a goal in such a short amount of time? You guessed it: mergers and acquisitions.
Ares last summer agreed to buy Crescent Point Capital, a Singapore-based, Asia-focused private equity firm with a portfolio of $3.8 billion throughout Southeast Asia and China. It also recently acquired AI-minded venture capital group BootstrapLabs, according to Bloomberg.
Still, a deal between the two companies has not been finalized, nor is there certainty that one will come to fruition, as other potential partners could throw their hat in the ring, per Bloomberg.
A spokesperson for Ares declined to comment and representatives for GCP did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
If the deal does go through, it would automatically become one of the largest mergers of alternative asset management companies in recent memory, joining the likes of BlackRock’s agreement earlier this year to buy Global Infrastructure Partners and its $100 billion in managed assets, as well as TPG’s deal last year for Angelo Gordon’s $73 billion in assets. Let’s assume deals like this go along these lines.
Nick Trombola can be reached at ntrombola@commercialobserver.com.
