Ares Commercial Real Estate

The firm was established in 1997. The co-founders included Antony Ressler, Michael Arougheti, David Kaplan, John H. Kissick, and Bennett Rosenthal. It has several subsidiaries:

Ares Capital Corporation established in 2004: provides financing for middle market acquisitions, recapitalizations, and leveraged buyouts, mainly in the United States. It is a publicly traded closed-end, non-diversified specialty finance company that is regulated as a business development company, or a BDC, under the Investment Company Act of 1940.

Ares Capital Management LLC: an SEC-registered investment adviser, is the investment adviser to Ares Capital Corporation

Ares Management Limited: established in 2006 as an expansion of the Ares business platform into Europe, focused on Ares European capital markets operations. It is authorized under the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom to provide certain investment advisory services.In May 2007, a minority interest in the firm was acquired by an international institutional investor, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. The investor did not acquire any voting or governance rights via its investment.In May 2014, Ares Management completed its initial public offering and is currently listed on the New York Stock Exchange. In April 2016, Ares Management closed its fifth global private equity fund, raising $7.85bn. In May 2016, Ares Management announced to buy asset management company American Capital; the US$3.4 billion deal closed in January 2017.

On January 30, 2020, Ares Management acquired a controlling stake in the Hong Kong-based alternative investment firm, SSG Capital Management. The deal was formally completed on July 2, 2020, and SSG Capital Management now operates under the name Ares SSG.On July 1, 2021, Ares Management announced completion of its acquisition of Black Creek Group's U.S. real estate investment advisory and distribution business.