Ares will acquire a minority equity stake in BlueCove with the option to acquire control of the business over a multi-year term following regulatory approval.
BlueCove brings together market-leading fixed income industry investment, engineering, and business infrastructure professionals, with the specific purpose of researching and developing state-of-the-art scientific investment processes applicable to fixed income investment management. The firm was founded in 2018 by Hugh Willis and Alex Khein, previously Co-founder and CEO/Executive Chairman, and COO/CEO respectively of BlueBay Asset Management and, as of 28 February 2023, has US$1.8 billion of assets under management.
Ares Management Corporation is a leading global alternative investment manager whose global platform, as of 31 December 2022, has approximately $352 billion of assets under management, with over 2,550 employees operating across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East.
The cross-disciplinary Simmons team was led by Corporate partner Ania Rontaler with assistance from Kim Farrar, Ed Robson and Charles Roberts. They were supported by Malcolm Smith (Regulatory), Martin Shah(Tax) and Tair Hussain(Incentives).
Commenting on the deal, Ania Rontaler said: “It has been a real pleasure working with BlueCove on this very exciting transaction. We have been working together since the business was first launched and it is a real privilege to be part of this next chapter. The deal plays to the strengths of Simmons and its asset management sector focus and its deep expertise in asset manager M&A across Corporate and our specialist departments.”
Dan Bebello, COO and GC at BlueCove said: “Simmons have been our trusted advisers since the inception of BlueCove and were the natural choice to lead on this milestone transaction. The team worked tirelessly, bringing together professionalism, dependability and deep technical expertise across multiple disciplines.”