Ares Acquisition III, the third blank check company formed by Ares Management, filed on Friday with the SEC to raise up to $300 million in an initial public offering.
The company plans to raise $300 million by offering 30 million units at $10. Each unit consists of one share of common stock, and one-tenth of one warrant to purchase a share, exercisable at $11.50.
Ares Acquisition is led by CEO and Co-Chairman David Kaplan and Co-Chairman Michael Arougheti, the co-founders of Ares Management. They are joined by CFO Jarrod Phillips, the CFO of, and a Partner at, Ares Management. The SPAC plans to target businesses with defensible market positions, strong culture, and attractive growth prospects, among other characteristics.
Management's previous SPACs include Ares Acquisition II, which went public in 2023 and completed its business combination with autonomous trucking developer Kodiak AI (NYSE: KDK; -39% from $10 offer price) in September 2025, and Ares Acquisition which liquidated in 2023 after terminating their merger agreement with nuclear reactor developer X-Energy (XE), which went public via a traditional IPO this past April.
The New York, NY-based company was founded in 2026. It plans to list on the NYSE under the symbol AAC.U. Ares Acquisition III filed confidentially on April 28, 2026. J.P. Morgan and Jefferies are the joint bookrunners on the deal.
