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Ares Management invests $1 Billion in sports over 6 months

This week, Atletico Madrid raised $216.9 million from Ares, which now holds a 34% stake in the La Liga champions.

The Los Angeles-based investment firm with $227 billion in assets under management, Ares Management Corporation, announced that funds managed by Ares have committed more than $1 billion of investments over the last six months in the sports, media, and entertainment sectors.

Ares employs a global flexible private capital strategy that invests in both debt and equity investments, including senior debt, junior debt, preferred equity, and minority equity, while leveraging its relationships and capabilities across the Ares platform. That sum doesn’t include Ares’ co-founder and chairman Tony Ressler’s principal ownership of the Atlanta Hawks.

This week, Atletico Madrid raised $216.9 million from Ares, which now holds a 34% stake in the La Liga champions. That money will go in part to developing the area around the club’s stadium – a recent trend among major sports teams like NFL giants Dallas Cowboys, Jacksonville Jaguars, Chicago Bears and, La Liga’s Real Madrid and Barcelona among others.  

Ares was part of a consortium led by MSP Sports Capital that acquired a 15% stake in McLaren Racing as part of a $255.4 million investment. The financiers valued McLaren at $773.1 million. The stake could rise to 33% by the end of 2022. Ares has also lent undisclosed amounts to The San Diego Padres, The Ottawa Senators, Rugby Australia, and The Professional Fighters League. The firm also provided a $100 million credit line to help Rawlings fund its acquisition of Easton Diamond Sports and acquired a minority stake in Meadowlark Media.

“We believe that one common theme across these investments is that the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated an existing trend where companies in these markets are increasingly more open to innovative and institutional solutions. We expect this trend will continue,” said Mark Affolter, Partner and Co-Head of U.S. Direct Lending at Ares.

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