Ares Management LLC Announces Sale of Minority Interest

Business Wire, May 29, 2007

LOS ANGELES -- Ares Management LLC, a privately held alternative asset manager, announced the sale of a minority interest for a purchase price of up to $375 million. The new investor, a longstanding client of Ares, seeks to participate in the long-term growth of the alternative asset class and Ares' broad and growing investment platform. None of the proceeds from the sale will be paid to existing owners of Ares. The new capital, along with available credit facilities, will be used to continue the global expansion of the highly successful Ares platform. Specifically, the proceeds from the sale will be used as additional principal capital for funds managed by Ares in its existing business lines, and for the continued growth and diversification of Ares investment products.

"In this increasingly competitive investment environment, we believe that this additional capital better positions us for further growth and diversification, and serves the interests of investors in all of our complementary investment pools of capital" said Tony Ressler, Senior Partner. "This is an exciting time in the development of Ares, as we are seeing significant benefits from our deal flow, due diligence and operational synergies from our three complementary lines of business."

About Ares Management LLC. Founded in 1997 by a group of highly experienced investment professionals, Ares manages investment capital in private equity, capital markets (principally leveraged loans, high-yield bonds, and distressed debt), and private debt (primarily through Ares Capital Corporation [NASDAQ: ARCC], a publicly-traded specialty finance company). Through these three complementary lines of business, Ares has the ability to provide capital to companies at any place in the capital structure and at any stage of development. Assets under management at Ares have grown from approximately $3 billion of committed capital five years ago to an expected $20 billion by the end of 2007. Ares has more than 170 employees; headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in Los Angeles, New York and London; and is an SEC registered investment advisor.

Forward Looking Statements. Statements included herein may constitute "forward looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are not guarantees of future performance or results and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ from those in the forward-looking statements. This is neither an offer nor solicitation of an offer to purchase any securities of Ares or any of its managed investment funds, including ARCC.