Ares Management executives Thursday confirmed their continued interest in acquiring the AMP Ltd.'s AMP Capital money management business.
In response to an analyst's question during its earnings call, Michael Arougheti, Ares co-founder, CEO and president, acknowledged Ares' interest in an acquisition given AMP Capital's "strong global footprint."
AMP revealed Oct. 30 that it had received an indicative, non-binding conditional proposal to fully acquire AMP Ltd.
"There is no transaction on the table for the entire company, and we are having constructive dialog" about Ares' purchase of AMP's money management business, Mr. Arougheti said, echoing earlier comments Thursday by AMP Ltd. during discussion of its fiscal-year results.
Mr. Arougheti said that Australia is a good growth market for Ares, especially for its private credit strategies, he said. Ares' potential acquisition of AMP Capital is indicative of Ares' view of the opportunity set in Australia.
Ares already has a joint venture relationship with Australian money manager Fidante Partners, formed in 2019 to market and manage investor capital from Australia and New Zealand for Ares' credit, private equity and real estate strategies. Mr. Arougheti said that the joint venture launched its first product in that market and the teams are continuing to develop new joint investment strategies.
