Ares Management announced that one of its subsidiaries has entered into a definitive agreement to buy 100% of Walton Street Capital Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V. and certain of its affiliates (“Walton Street Mexico”), a leading real estate asset management platform focused primarily on the industrial sector with US$2.1 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2024, from Walton Street Capital.
Headed by Federico Martin del Campo, Managing Partner and CEO, the Walton Street Mexico team consists of 15+ investment professionals who have transacted in industrial and other major real estate sectors in Mexico for over 20 years. During this time, the team has established itself as a leader in industrial real estate in Mexico.
Since 2010, affiliates of Walton Street Mexico have invested across key markets through the acquisition and development of over 51 million square feet of industrial real estate in over 250 separate properties, attracting tenants in the country’s largest industrial sectors.
Ares Real Estate has grown its platform over time, focusing on expanding in key geographies and sectors that are positioned to benefit from attractive long-term structural tailwinds. During this time, the team has maintained high conviction in the industrial real estate sector, establishing a total industrial portfolio of $28.1 billion and over 230 million square feet across the U.S. and Europe as of June 30, 2024.
Following the deal, Ares Real Estate will leverage the Walton Street Mexico team’s two decades of experience and local networks to continue growing its industrial footprint globally. And the Walton Street Mexico team will gain the advantage of being part of Ares’ global Real Estate team, which oversees $52 billion in assets under management and has more than 270 investment professionals with leading capabilities across debt and equity strategies, major real estate sectors and geographies.
The deal is expected to be immediately accretive to Ares’ after-tax realized income per share of Class A and non-voting common stock. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2024 and is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.
Latham & Watkins served as legal counsel to Ares, and Kirkland & Ellis and Mayer Brown served as legal counsel to Walton Street in connection with the transaction. Berkshire Global Advisors served as Walton Street’s financial advisor.
KEY QUOTES:
“We are excited to announce this transaction and believe that the Walton Street Mexico team will bring great insights to Ares as we continue to grow our leading global industrial real estate platform. We believe that Federico and the team are aligned with our values and will provide a distinctive edge to the Ares Real Estate team. We are seeing a meaningful shift in supply chain dynamics globally with Mexico emerging as an attractive location for skilled manufacturing and we believe that these trends will continue to increase demand for warehouse space in the country.”
-Michael Arougheti, Chief Executive Officer and President of Ares
“On behalf of the broader Ares Real Estate team, we want to welcome Federico and the Walton Street Mexico team to Ares. We have strategically grown our industrial real estate platform over the last few years with partnership from Dave Fazekas, Head of Ares Industrial Management, and the team, and believe that adding additional capability in Mexico is an important step to enhance our global offering. We believe that we are entering Mexico at an opportune time to capitalize on continued growth and outperformance of the industrial real estate sector in North America.”
-David Roth, Co-Head of Ares U.S. Real Estate
“Walton Street is proud to have led the development of Walton Street Mexico into one of the preeminent private equity real estate managers in Mexico. The strategic timing of the sale allows our team to continue its focus on the growth of our U.S. real estate equity and debt investment platforms.”
-Jeff Quicksilver, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Walton Street Capital
“We are excited to be joining Ares, which is well recognized as a leading global alternative investment manager, and owner and operator of real estate. We believe there are cultural and skill set synergies between our two teams, which will support our ability to execute on our strategic growth objectives in Mexico. We look forward to working alongside Ares’ global real estate team in addressing an attractive industrial investment opportunity.”
-Martin del Campo
