Investment management firm Ares Management has entered the equipment finance market with the launch of Ansley Park Capital, a specialty lending firm, following a string of acquisitions.
Ansley Park Capital is prioritizing lending for large-ticket equipment for multiple industries, including construction, corporate air travel, energy, health care, infrastructure, manufacturing, marine and rail, Ares said in a release today. Ansley Park Capital will offer financing from $5 million to more than $100 million.
Ansley Park is part of Ares’ Alternative Credit strategy business, which has about “$400 million in initial equity capital to support originations,” expected to be more than $3 billion, according to the release.
Ares has been acquiring businesses at a rapid clip in the past several years. Most recently, it acquired BciCapital, a subsidiary of City National Bank of Florida that focuses on franchise finance, public finance and large-ticket equipment finance.
Ares Alternative Credit has $33.9 billion in assets under management, the company said. Its parent company, Ares Management, has $418.8 billion in assets and views acquisitions and portfolio purchases as a key part of its growth strategy. In the fourth quarter of 2023, the company reported it closed roughly $10 billion in direct lending commitments across 78 transactions nationwide. Ares Management issued $22.4 billion in direct loans in 2023, across 217 transactions.
In addition to BciCapital, in the past year Ares Management:
- Bought a $300 million consumer loan portfolio from AI lender Upstart on Feb. 14;
- Invested in a leveraged buyout of New York-based credit research tech company LoansIntel in January for an undisclosed amount, according to funding database PitchBook Data;
- Bought a $3.5 billion specialty finance loan portfolio from PacWest Bancorp in June 2023;
- Invested $250 million of growth capital into a consumer credit platform called Avant in December 2022;
- Invested in a $310 million debt warehouse facility round for Los Angeles-based “buy now, pay later” lender Sunbit in January.
New leadership, familiar faces
Ares Management is based in Century City, Calif., with offices in New York City, where Ansley Park Capital is located.
The new division will be led by Chief Executive Eric Miller, former CEO of the equipment finance business at BciCapital. Mark Trollinger, former chief investment officer at BciCapital, will serve as Ansley Park Capital’s head of capital markets. Robert Seltzer, who formerly was BciCapital’s chief commercial officer tasked with spearheading equipment finance originations, will round out the executive team as head of direct originations.
“The equipment finance landscape is rapidly evolving, and the team’s deep industry expertise across a wide range of asset classes will enable Ansley Park to effectively deploy capital critical to supporting the financing needs of companies driving the U.S. economy,” Joel Holsinger, partner at Ares Management and co-head of its Alternative Credit division, said in a statement today.
Shares of Ares Management Corp. [NASDAQ: ARES] were trading at $135.88 at market close Monday, up 2.07% from $132.81. The company has a market cap of $42 billion.
Registration is now open for Equipment Finance Connect, the nation’s only dealer-centric equipment lending and leasing event, which will take place May 5-7 in Nashville, Tenn. Learn about the event and free dealer registration at EquipmentFinanceConnect.com.
