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(Bloomberg) — Alternative asset manager Ares Management Corp. is considering setting up shop in Milan to target lending opportunities to businesses that currently lack access to private credit.
The firm is actively considering the move but hasn’t decided yet whether to actually set up a team of professionals in the Italian financial capital, a person familiar with the matter said, and there’s no certainty the move will definitively happen.
If the move goes through, it would add a prominent player to a growing list of funds, such as Point72 Asset Management, Capstone Investment Advisors as well as Taula Capital Management, establishing outposts in Milan. That’s partly due to the generous tax breaks on offer for people moving to Italy from abroad whose income comes mostly from dividends and carried interest. They include a €200,000 ($208,480) flat tax on all income earned outside of Italy.
The country has historically presented some hurdles to private credit lenders, including domestic regulation that requires funds to structure debt deals as bonds rather than loans. But international debt fund managers have familiarized themselves with the workaround procedure and now execute deals regularly. Recently, US-based lender Sixth Street used Italian notes to finance Blackstone’s purchase of the parent company of Sediver.
Ares has grown its assets under management to almost half a trillion dollars, mainly driven by interest in its US direct lending funds and recent private equity acquisitions. It’s currently raising a fund dedicated to loan opportunities in Europe expected to close on more than €20 billion.
In Italy, it arranged earlier this year a €310 million debt package for Ardian’s purchase of Masco Group Srl, a provider of manufacturing services to pharmaceutical companies.
A representative for Ares declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg. The news was first reported by outlet Financial News London.
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