Key Takeaways
- • Ares Management, a $428 billion global asset manager, has opened a Milan office and completed three Italian private credit deals ranging from €50 million to €150 million in recent months, signaling a strategic pivot toward Southern European growth markets.
- • Italy's private credit market remains underpenetrated relative to Northern Europe, accounting for just 4.3% of continental Europe's direct lending transactions over the past 45 quarters, creating structural opportunities as traditional banks retreat from commercial lending.
- • Ares hired Alessandro Verdirrame, a decade-long Goldman Sachs and UBS executive, as head of Italy for EMEA wealth management solutions, and positioned Tyrone Cooney (Head of France and Southern Europe for Direct Lending) to lead institutional credit and real estate initiatives—establishing a dual-channel distribution model spanning institutional and retail investors.
- • The firm is targeting Italy's logistics hubs and rental housing sectors while deploying its Ares European Strategic Income ELTIF Fund (AESIF ELTIF) to retail investors at a €50,000 minimum investment threshold, tapping both institutional and high-net-worth demand for alternatives to volatile public markets.
- • Italy's estimated $50 billion credit gap—driven by deleveraging banks and pandemic-related commercial lending pullbacks—positions private credit firms like Ares to capture senior secured lending opportunities in a fragmented mid-market landscape with lower competitive intensity than UK, France, and Benelux markets.
Summary
Ares Management's May 2025 Milan office launch represents a deliberate geographic expansion into Italy's underdeveloped private credit and real estate markets. The $428 billion global asset manager has already executed three Italian deals with investment sizes between €50 million and €150 million, demonstrating tangible capital deployment rather than exploratory positioning. According to Tyrone Cooney, head of France and Southern Europe for Ares' Direct Lending division, Italy represents "the new frontier for direct lenders due to its growing relevance for private equity firms active in the mid-market."
Italy's private credit market exhibits structural supply-demand imbalances that favor new entrants. Deloitte analysis shows Italy accounts for only 4.3% of continental Europe's direct lending transactions despite being Europe's third-largest economy. This gap reflects a €50 billion credit shortage in Italy specifically, part of a broader €100 billion Southern European credit void created by deleveraging banking sectors. Traditional banks, still recovering from pandemic-related balance sheet constraints, have withdrawn from commercial lending, with over 80% of European commercial real estate loans historically originated through banks—a channel now constrained. Private credit firms can capture this displacement at attractive spreads with lower competitive intensity than saturated UK, French, and Benelux markets.
Ares' leadership appointments underscore a dual-channel go-to-market strategy. Alessandro Verdirrame, recruited from a decade-long tenure at Goldman Sachs and UBS, leads Italy wealth management solutions, positioning him to cultivate relationships with private banks, insurers, and high-net-worth investors seeking yield alternatives. Cooney manages institutional credit and real estate deal flow. This structure enables Ares to scale capital across both institutional and retail segments—the latter through its Ares European Strategic Income ELTIF Fund (AESIF ELTIF), which opens private credit access to retail investors at a €50,000 minimum, a significant broadening from traditional high-net-worth thresholds.
Ares' sector focus—logistics hubs and multifamily rental housing—aligns with secular trends. Italy's resilient real estate fundamentals and structural housing undersupply provide stable collateral bases for senior secured lending. As European institutional and retail investors seek income stability amid volatile public equity markets, Ares' Milan presence creates a flywheel: localized deal sourcing feeds institutional and retail capital channels, enabling faster capital deployment and competitive pricing advantages in a nascent market. The firm's strategy acknowledges that while Italian competition is rising among private equity players, it remains materially less intense than Western European markets, preserving return potential for early movers with on-the-ground infrastructure and local expertise.
Italy's private credit market exhibits structural supply-demand imbalances that favor new entrants. Deloitte analysis shows Italy accounts for only 4.3% of continental Europe's direct lending transactions despite being Europe's third-largest economy. This gap reflects a €50 billion credit shortage in Italy specifically, part of a broader €100 billion Southern European credit void created by deleveraging banking sectors. Traditional banks, still recovering from pandemic-related balance sheet constraints, have withdrawn from commercial lending, with over 80% of European commercial real estate loans historically originated through banks—a channel now constrained. Private credit firms can capture this displacement at attractive spreads with lower competitive intensity than saturated UK, French, and Benelux markets.
Ares' leadership appointments underscore a dual-channel go-to-market strategy. Alessandro Verdirrame, recruited from a decade-long tenure at Goldman Sachs and UBS, leads Italy wealth management solutions, positioning him to cultivate relationships with private banks, insurers, and high-net-worth investors seeking yield alternatives. Cooney manages institutional credit and real estate deal flow. This structure enables Ares to scale capital across both institutional and retail segments—the latter through its Ares European Strategic Income ELTIF Fund (AESIF ELTIF), which opens private credit access to retail investors at a €50,000 minimum, a significant broadening from traditional high-net-worth thresholds.
Ares' sector focus—logistics hubs and multifamily rental housing—aligns with secular trends. Italy's resilient real estate fundamentals and structural housing undersupply provide stable collateral bases for senior secured lending. As European institutional and retail investors seek income stability amid volatile public equity markets, Ares' Milan presence creates a flywheel: localized deal sourcing feeds institutional and retail capital channels, enabling faster capital deployment and competitive pricing advantages in a nascent market. The firm's strategy acknowledges that while Italian competition is rising among private equity players, it remains materially less intense than Western European markets, preserving return potential for early movers with on-the-ground infrastructure and local expertise.
Go deeper than the headline
Research every firm in this story, track the ones that matter and get the daily briefing — free for 7 days.