Ares Management Completes Acquisition of Area Property Partners

-- Ares Management LLC announced today that it has completed its acquisition of AREA Property Partners, L.P., a top-tier real estate management firm investing across North America, Europe, and India. As a result, the Ares Real Estate Group now has a total of $8 billion in committed capital under management, including the publicly traded real estate investment trust Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation

. As previously announced, Lee Neibart, AREA's Chief Executive Officer, is now a Senior Partner of the Ares Real Estate Group. Mr. Neibart joins John Bartling, also a Senior Partner of the Ares Real Estate Group, as the Global Co-Heads of the Group. William Benjamin, AREA's Head of Europe