Ares Management has priced its second European direct lending CLO, a $358 million vehicle that bundles middle-market private credit loans to over 70 Western European companies. The €303.95 million-equivalent transaction follows the firm's £305 million ($410 million) inaugural European CLO completed just nine months ago. S&P Global Ratings and KBRA will rate the CLO, which offers triple-A notes priced at 135 basis points above Euribor. Only four such CLOs have been priced in Europe to date, compared with dozens in the US market.

The issuance underscores growing institutional acceptance of private credit securitisation structures in Europe despite currency and jurisdictional complexities. Ares manages more than $84 billion in European direct lending strategies and is one of the world's largest CLO managers globally.