The private equity firm Ares Management intends to raise $100 million through an initial public offering, paving the way for the firm to join the small handful of alternative asset managers that have gone public in recent years.
Ares, which purchased the retailer Neiman Marcus last fall, disclosed its plan in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.
The $100 million figure is only used as a placeholder to calculate fees for Ares’ advisers, which include JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America Merrill Lynch., who will determine the final dollar amount of the offering.
The I.P.O. comes as no surprise, since the firm was rumored last year to be exploring an I.P.O. Founded in 1997, the firm now employes about 700 people and manages more than $70 billion across four different units â€" tradable credit, real estate and private equity and direct lending. Direct lending generated about 40 percent of the company’s fee revenues last year.
In 2013, the firm, based in Los Angeles, generated $478 million in revenue, most of which came from management fees.
The company said it intends to use any money it raises for “general corporate purposes and to fund growth initiatives.â€
A company spokesman declined to comment, citing Securities and Exchange Commission disclosure rules.
Other large private equity firms have gone public in recent years, including the Blackstone Group, the Carlyle Group, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Apollo Global.
While some investment firms may not like the increased scrutiny that comes with being a public company, I.P.O.’s also give companies a stock they can leverage to poach employees and make acquisitions.
Public offerings have also lined the pockets of some of private equity’s biggest moguls, including Stephen A. Schwarzman of Blackstone, David Rubenstein of Carlyle and Leon Black of Apollo.
None of Ares’s employee owners plan to take money out as part of its I.P.O., according to a person familiar with the matter.
