News

Ares Management Corp has agreed to invest in Volery Capital Partners, buying a minority stake. Financial terms weren’t announced. Volery is private equity firm that provides growth equity and co-investments to investment managers that generate positive environmental and social impact.

PRESS RELEASE

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Volery Capital Partners (“Volery”) and Ares Management Corporation (“Ares”, NYSE: ARES) today announced that they have reached an agreement under which Ares will become a minority shareholder of Volery and provide capital to support the firm’s operating and investment activities.

Volery is a private equity firm that provides growth equity and strategic support to leading investment managers that generate positive environmental and social impact. The firm also selectively pursues direct, co-investment and other opportunistic transactions alongside its core mandate.

“We are thrilled to be in business with Ares, a market leader that shares our strategic vision and will expand the breadth of our firm’s capabilities,” said Emanuel Citron, a Managing Partner of Volery. “The partnership will be instrumental in helping Volery work with top-performing management teams to accelerate their efforts to achieve new levels of economic performance, growth and measurable impact.”

Volery is led by Managing Partners Emanuel Citron and Daniel C. Stein, both seasoned private equity investors with experience investing in and growing asset managers. Mr. Citron has extensive experience with private equity investments in asset managers. He previously held a variety of positions at Stone Point Capital. Prior to Stone Point, he held positions with Bain Consulting and Beacon Group. Mr. Stein is a seasoned, growth-oriented executive with over 25 years of operating and investment experience. Formerly, Mr. Stein served as CEO of Dimensional Associates, Inc. and as SVP of Growth Investments at MacAndrews and Forbes.

“Responsible or ESG investing is an increasingly important focus area for Ares and our investors, and we are excited to support Volery’s mission of investing in firms that positively influence our communities,” said Michael Arougheti, Chief Executive Officer and President of Ares. “We are confident in the Volery team, their investment approach and the firm’s strategic value to Ares.”

Capital allocations to both sustainable and impact investments are growing globally, and Volery and Ares believe that there is significant opportunity to establish the leading growth equity platform supporting impact- and sustainability-focused asset managers. Volery’s investment strategy will create exposure to this secular growth, and demonstrate that strong financial returns and positive impact can be mutually reinforcing. Volery expects to add significant value to its portfolio companies by helping them to raise capital, implement operational best practices, and optimize their impact measurement and management.

Volery’s first portfolio company is a sustainable agriculture asset manager with approximately $1.3 billion of assets under management.

About Volery Capital Partners

Volery Capital strategically partners with, provides growth equity capital to, and co-invests alongside best-in-class asset managers across asset classes to create measurable impact alongside market-rate financial returns. Volery drives post-investment value creation through assistance with capital formation, firm building, and impact measurement and management. Volery invests in well-positioned sector specialists with attractive business models while capitalizing on the secular growth of capital allocations to impact strategies. For more information, visit www.volerycapital.com.

About Ares Management Corporation

Ares Management Corporation is a publicly traded, leading global alternative asset manager with approximately $137 billion of assets under management as of March 31, 2019 and 18 offices in the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia. Since its inception in 1997, Ares has adhered to a disciplined investment philosophy that focuses on delivering strong risk-adjusted investment returns throughout market cycles. Ares believes each of its three distinct but complementary investment groups in Credit, Private Equity and Real Estate is a market leader based on assets under management and investment performance. Ares was built upon the fundamental principle that each group benefits from being part of the greater whole. For more information, visit www.aresmgmt.com.

For more information, please contact Kenzie Reinoso at Volery Capital (kenzie@volerycapital.com) or Carl Drake (800.340.6597) or Bill Mendel (212.397.1030) at Ares Management.