Ares Closes $9.8B Credit Fund; IL Police Commits $450M to Lexington
Ares Management closed one of the largest private credit fundraises in market, collecting more than $9.8B across Ares Special Opportunities Fund III and related vehicles. The close topped the firm’s prior vintage and drew commitments from a broad mix of public pensions, underscoring continued allocator capacity for large-scale flexible credit mandates.
Blue Owl Capital finished fundraising for Asset Special Opportunities Fund IX with $2.9B, above its $2.5B target, BC Partners reached a €2.2B first close for Fund XII against a €5B target, and Apogem Capital closed Secondary Fund VII at its $1.43B hard cap. Elsewhere, OceanSound Partners closed its third flagship fund at a $3.4B hard cap, well above its prior $1.49B fund, drawing commitments from a range of public pensions, sovereign wealth funds, and endowments.
Allocators disclosed a mix of commitments and re-ups, alongside a wave of new searches. Illinois Police Officers Pension Fund selected Lexington Partners for a $450M commitment after a manager search, while Massachusetts Water Resources Authority Retirement System launched a search for a diversified multi-strategy hedge fund mandate, Oklahoma Tobacco Endowment Settlement Trust opened a search for a roughly $75M evergreen global private equity allocation, and Westfield Contributory Retirement System issued an RFP for up to $15M for private equity co-investment managers.
Separately, San Antonio Fire & Police Pension Fund approved $85M across re-ups with NB Secondary Opportunities Fund VI, Merit Energy Partners M, and Apollo Investment Fund XI, alongside sizable public equity reallocations.
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