Ares Management has priced its second European direct lending CLO, a €303.95m-equivalent transaction valued at approximately $358m, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The vehicle, Ares European Direct Lending CLO II, bundles middle-market private credit loans to more than 70 Western European companies. The euro-sterling deal follows Ares’ £305m ($410m) inaugural European private credit CLO completed nine months ago.

The CLO will be rated by S&P Global Ratings and KBRA. Its triple-A notes priced at 135 basis points above Euribor, toward the wider end of recent pricing levels.

The transaction underscores growing European adoption of the US model of securitising direct lending portfolios. However, Europe remains in early innings. Only four such CLOs have been priced in the region to date, compared with dozens in the US.

Ares manages more than $84bn in European direct lending strategies and is one of the world’s largest CLO managers globally. The latest issuance signals increasing institutional acceptance of private credit securitisation structures in Europe, despite structural complexity around currencies and jurisdictions.

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