Ares and GE JV inks $852m in Q1

Ares Capital Corporation and GE Capital’s Senior Secured Loan Fund (SSLP) invested $852.1 million and added eight new portfolio companies during the first quarter, according to an earnings report released by Ares on Tuesday.

Roughly 82 percent of the new investments were in the form of first lien senior secured debt, another 7 percent were in senior subordinated loans and 2 percent were in second lien senior secured loans, according to the report. Approximately 92 percent of the securities acquired through the commitments possess floating rates.

“During the first quarter, we leveraged our broad platform to originate attractive investment opportunities and close on a select group of new investments, mostly in floating rate senior secured loans to leading middle-market businesses. In addition, consistent with our stated strategy of investing in areas where the banking sector is reducing exposure, we have continued to broaden our reach with the addition of a new investment team based in Dallas focused on senior and subordinated debt opportunities in the oil and gas industry,” Ares Capital Corporation president Kipp deVeer said in a statement. “Given our meaningful capacity for new investments, we believe we are well positioned to be opportunistic in a number of direct lending asset classes.”

GE and Ares formed the joint partnership in 2007. The SSLP invests in the senior secured debt of mid-market companies                                                                  

In addition to its Q1 SSL investment activity, Ares’ Q1 report also disclosed $303 million in new investment commitments and $401 million in exits during the month of April.

Ares Capital Corporation had $8.2 billion in total assets as of 31 March. The business development company reported GAAP net income of $117 million on the quarter.