Century City-based global asset manager Ares Management Corp. closed on an oversubscribed fund that raised $5 billion aimed at lending to middle market companies in North America, Ares announced Wednesday.

The inaugural Ares Senior Direct Lending Fund was “significantly oversubscribed” relative to its initial target of $2 billion, the company stated.

“SDL has already started to benefit from the team’s significant investment activity, having committed to more than 20 investments to date representing over $700 million of initial commitments since the first closing in July of 2018,” said Kipp deVeer, partner and head of the Ares Credit Group, in the statement.

The fund targets commitments to companies in the range of $30 million to $500 million, and earnings before taxes of $150 million, according to an Ares spokesman.

The fund is an extension of Ares’ longstanding investment strategy of offering institutional and retail investors access to senior secured, directly originated loans, to quality North American middle market companies through a variety of investment vehicles.

As of Sept. 30, the Ares Credit Group reported $60.4 billion in global direct lending assets under management, with $39.2 billion in the United States and $21.2 billion in Europe.

Finance reporter Pat Maio can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 556-8329.