Ares Management sells second 2019 CLO; conference attendees expect ongoing market drag

By Rebecca Melvin

New York, Feb. 28 – Pricing emerged on the second Ares Management LLC deal in as many months on Thursday, namely its $507.5 million of notes due April 22, 2031 in the Ares LII CLO Ltd./Ares LII CLO LLC transaction, according to a market source.

Ares Management priced the $507.05 million Ares LI CLO transaction on Jan. 22.

At the top of the stack, the Ares LII CLO priced $300 million of class A-1 senior secured floating-rate notes to yield Libor plus 133 basis points. The deal is expected to close on March 27.

Ares Management is an alternative asset management firm based in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, market players were reflecting on the Structured Finance Industry Group conference, which was held in Las Vegas and wrapped up on Wednesday.

The market has hit a rough patch and it has further to go before there is a lot of relief, but Wells Fargo’s Dave Preston and Mackenzie Miller wrote that the tone of SFIG conference participants was “comparatively bullish.”

In their recap published on Wednesday, the Wells Fargo Securities analysts said that investors discussing value were not expecting a near-term rally in CLO spreads generally, but they were impressed with a recovery since December.

Looking forward, investors anticipate potential CLO downgrades most likely of single A to BBB tranches in credit downturn and wondered out loud who would be the marginal buyers of AAA CLOs, the analysts wrote.

The potential for CLO tranche downgrades was an important topic of conversation among conference attendees, Preston and Miller said, adding “We believe this is due to increased fear about ratings decay on the underlying loans and an outlook for increased CCC exposure in a downturn.”

Meanwhile, for best value, investors frequently picked out shorter bonds, or A/BBB or BB tranches, but there was a lack of consensus. “No one seemed confident about near-term tightening due to outflows from floaters, and a still-heavy backlog of CLO’s expected to come to market,” Preston and Miller wrote.

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