– Ares Management Corporation, a global alternative investment manager, raised approximately $1.5 billion for Ares Direct Lending’s dedicated specialty healthcare strategy.
– This includes the final closing of the inaugural Ares Specialty Healthcare Fund (ASH) and anticipated leverage.
– ASH aims to support sponsored and non-sponsored specialty healthcare companies through flexible capital in first lien, second lien, mezzanine, preferred equity, and non-control equity opportunities.
– The Fund targets public and private companies globally across five sub-sectors: pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, medical technologies, tools and diagnostics, specialty services, and healthcare IT.
– ASH has an 11-member dedicated investment team and a 12-member Industry Advisory Board of seasoned specialty healthcare executives.
– Douglas Dieter, Dr.P.H., Co-Head of Ares Specialty Healthcare, highlighted the Fund’s final close as a reflection of the team’s experience, industry relationships, and ability to provide creative capital solutions.
– Raj Chudgar, Co-Head of Ares Specialty Healthcare, emphasized secular tailwinds driving strong origination and capital formation in specialty healthcare, leveraging Ares’ Direct Lending platform to source proprietary deal flow, a credit-first investment approach, and a diversified portfolio of high-quality businesses, with investments in 28 portfolio companies to date.
– ASH benefits from Ares’ global Direct Lending platform, which includes over 390 investment professionals, more than two decades of healthcare investment experience, and approximately $56 billion deployed in the healthcare sector as of June 30, 2025.
