Ares Management Seeks Up to $418.4 Million in U.S. IPO

(Bloomberg) -- Ares Management LP, the asset manager whose private-equity investments include Nieman Marcus Group Ltd. and Jacuzzi Brands Corp., is seeking to raise as much as $418.4 million in its U.S. initial public offering.

Ares is offering 18.2 million shares for $21 to $23 each, according to a filing today. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is also planning to sell shares of Ares in the IPO, the filing shows. At the top of the offering range Ares would have a value of about $4.86 billion, based on 211.4 million shares outstanding if all Ares Operating Group units are exchanged for newly issued common units, the filing shows.

Los Angeles-based Ares’s IPO will be the biggest of a private-equity firm since Carlyle Group LP raised $671 million in May 2012. Shares of its peers have rebounded, with Blackstone Group LP posting gains the last seven days, and Apollo Global Management LLC climbing 7 percent since April 15. Both companies stock prices fell as the market declined in early April.

Ares oversees $74 billion in credit and private-equity assets, and plans to use the proceeds from the IPO to repay debt. Following the offering, Ares will be considered a partnership limiting common stockholders’ voting rights and their ability to remove or elect directors of the general partnership, the filing showed. The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority’s stake will decline to 34 percent from 50 percent after the offering.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. are managing the offering. The shares will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ARES.

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