James Kim joined Ares Management Corporation as a partner and head of European special opportunities in Ares’ private equity group. Based in London, Kim will lead Ares’ special opportunities activities in Europe, adding to Ares’ growing private equity presence in the region, while leveraging Ares’ European private credit and real estate platforms.
“James is a seasoned and accomplished investment professional with whom I’ve had the opportunity to develop a strong working relationship over the last decade,” Scott Graves, partner, co-head of the Ares Private equity group and head of special opportunities, said. “His extensive experience leading investment strategies and partnering with European businesses to deliver bespoke debt and non-control equity capital solutions will be an invaluable asset to our team. Given the significant opportunities we see in Europe, we believe our sourcing and execution capabilities will meaningfully benefit from an enhanced local presence.”
“We continue to see a significant opportunity for expansion of our private equity franchise in Europe,” Matt Cwiertnia, partner and co-head of the Ares private equity group, said. “We believe that under the leadership of James and Stephane Etroy, who has led our European corporate private equity strategy since 2020, our business is well positioned to continue to grow and thrive in the region.”
“I am thrilled to join Ares and look forward to collaborating closely with both the Corporate Private Equity and Direct Lending teams in Europe,” Kim said. “There is a growing need for partnership capital to provide bespoke financing solutions in Europe. We believe Ares is strategically placed to continue being a strong partner given its extensive and deep relationships, leading market reputation and flexibility to provide creative debt and equity capital solutions to corporates and sponsors in the region.”
Kim has more than 18 years of global private equity and leveraged finance experience. Prior to joining Ares, Kim spent more than 11 years at Apollo Global Management where he most recently served as a partner and the European co-head of hybrid value, focused on providing innovative debt and equity solutions to European corporates. Kim also served on Apollo’s European operating, strategic and risk committees. Prior to joining Apollo, Kim was a senior associate in Citi’s European leveraged finance team where he focused on structuring and syndicating European leveraged loans and high yield bonds.
