Ares Capital Corporation Announces Opening of Two New Offices and Hiring of Three...

Ares Capital Corporation Announces Opening of Two New Offices and Hiring of Three Senior Professionals

NEW YORK--(Business Wire)--
Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCC) announced today the
opening of offices in Chicago and Atlanta. It also announced three
recent senior professional hires: Mark Affolter joins as a Managing
Director and will drive coverage in the Midwest from the new Chicago
office, Michael Dieber joins as a Co-Head of the Portfolio Management
group in Ares Capital's New York office, and Carl Drake joins as
Senior Vice President of Finance/Head of Capital Markets and Investor
Relations and will also enhance coverage in the Southeast region from
the new Atlanta office.

"We are extremely pleased to welcome Mark, Mike and Carl to our
management team. These professionals all bring unique skills and
relationships to our company, as well as long individual histories in
the middle market," said Michael Arougheti, President of Ares Capital.
"The addition of these professionals, along with our new office
openings, reflect our continuing strategy of taking advantage of the
attractive opportunities resulting from the dislocation in the credit
markets. We are fortunate to be in a position to grow our franchise
when others in our market are retrenching," added Mr. Arougheti.

Prior to joining Ares Capital, Mr. Affolter was a Managing
Director at CIT leading its Sponsor Finance Midwest coverage team. Mr.
Affolter moved to CIT in 2005 after spending a combined 8 years at GE
and Heller Corporate Finance serving in various capacities including
mezzanine finance and syndications. From 2003 to 2005, Mr. Affolter
led a financial sponsor coverage team with responsibility for the
Midwest and parts of Canada. Mr. Affolter will leverage his extensive
experience and relationships in expanding coverage in the Midwest.

Prior to joining Ares Capital, Mr. Dieber was a Managing Director
at Conway, Del Genio, Gries ("CDG"), a financial advisory firm
focusing on workouts and restructurings. Prior to CDG, Mr. Dieber was
a Partner in the Restructuring Group at Ernst &Young. Mr. Dieber will
work alongside Daniel Katz, Co-Head of Portfolio Management group, to
bring additional capabilities to Ares Capital's existing portfolio
management team. In addition, he will supplement the Ares Capital's
existing sourcing of stressed and "rescue financing" opportunities
that are presenting themselves in the current environment.

Prior to joining Ares Capital, Mr. Drake was a Managing Director
in the Equity Research Department of SunTrust Robinson Humphrey
covering specialty finance companies, including BDC's. Prior to his
position in equity research, Mr. Drake was a Vice President in the
investment banking department of SunTrust Robinson Humphrey from
1999-2005. Prior to joining SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Mr. Drake
served seven years as a generalist in leveraged finance as a Vice
President with financial services firms Creditanstalt Corporate
Finance, GE Capital Commercial Finance and Metropolitan Life. Mr.
Drake will focus on capital raising, investor relations and marketing
activities, as well as provide in-market coverage support in the
Southeast region.

ABOUT ARES CAPITAL CORPORATION

Ares Capital Corporation is a specialty finance company that is a
closed-end, non-diversified management investment company. Ares
Capital Corporation has elected to be regulated as a business
development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Its
investment objective is to generate both current income and capital
appreciation through debt and equity investments. Ares Capital
Corporation invests primarily in first and second lien senior loans
and mezzanine debt, which in some cases includes an equity component,
and, to a lesser extent, in equity investments in private U.S. middle
market companies.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Statements included herein may constitute "forward-looking
statements," which relate to future events or our future performance
or financial condition. These statements are not guarantees of future
performance or results and involve a number of risks and
uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those in the
forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors,
including those described from time to time in Ares Capital
Corporation's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Ares Capital Corporation undertakes no duty to update any
forward-looking statements made herein.

AVAILABLE INFORMATION

Ares Capital Corporation's filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, press releases, earnings releases and other
financial information are available on its website at
www.arescapitalcorp.com.

Ares Capital Corporation
Investor Relations
Rick Davis, 310-201-4200

Copyright Business Wire 2008