Ares will provide $2.55 billion to Kayne Anderson, the majority of which will be in the form of Ares operating group units.

The transaction is expected to close on or around January 1, 2016, subject to customary regulatory approvals, Kayne Anderson investor consents and other closing conditions.

Kayne Anderson, an alternative investment manager, has over $26 billion in AuM for institutional investors, family offices, high net worth and retail clients. The firm is headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, with offices in Houston, TX, New York City, Chicago, IL, Denver, CO, Dallas, TX, Atlanta, GA, and Boca Raton, FL.

Ares is a publicly-traded, global alternative asset manager with around $87 billion in AuM as of March 31 and around 15 offices in the US, Europe and Asia.

Ares Kayne Management will have around 450 investment professionals in around 20 global offices serving more than 2,700 direct investors.

As highlighted by Bloomberg, the combination brings together Ares’s focus on credit, private equity and real estate with Kayne Anderson’s history of investing in property and energy.

Upon closing of the transaction, Kayne Anderson's chairman and founder, Richard Kayne, and Ares chairman and chief executive, Tony Ressler, will serve as co-chairmen of Ares Kayne Management.

Kayne Anderson's president and CEO, Robert Sinnott, will become chairman of the newly-formed energy group at Ares Kayne. Meanwhile, substantially all of Kayne Anderson’s non-energy investment professionals will join Ares’ existing investment groups in private equity, real estate and direct lending. The two companies will continue to manage their existing funds and operate under their existing brand names.