must contact such broker, bank or other institution or nominee to determine how to revoke your vote in accordance with its policies a sufficient time in advance of the Annual Meeting.
Unless revoked as stated above, the shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share (the “common stock”), of the Company represented by valid proxies will be voted on all matters to be acted upon at the Annual Meeting. With respect to the election of directors, proxies cannot be voted for a greater number of persons than the number of nominees named.
The Board is not aware of any matter to be presented for action at the Annual Meeting other than the matters set forth herein. Should any other matter requiring a vote of stockholders arise, it is the intention of the persons named in the proxy to vote in accordance with their discretion on such matters. Stockholders have no dissenters’ or appraisal rights in connection with any of the proposals described herein.
The record date for determination of stockholders entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting is the close of business on March 5, 2025. As of March 5, 2025, there were 681,588,467 shares of common stock outstanding. Each share of common stock has one vote. The presence, in attendance or by proxy, of the holders of shares of common stock entitled to cast a majority of the votes entitled to be cast shall constitute a quorum for the purposes of the Annual Meeting. If there are not sufficient votes for a quorum or to approve or ratify any of the foregoing proposals at the time of the Annual Meeting, the chairperson of the meeting may adjourn the Annual Meeting in order to permit further solicitation of proxies by the Company.
Abstentions and broker non-votes will be deemed to be present for the purpose of determining a quorum for the Annual Meeting. However, abstentions and broker non-votes are not counted as votes cast. A “broker non-vote” with respect to a matter occurs when a broker, bank or other institution or nominee holding shares on behalf of a beneficial owner has not received voting instructions from the beneficial owner on a particular proposal and does not have, or chooses not to exercise, discretionary authority to vote the shares on such proposals.
You may vote “For” or “Against,” or abstain from voting on, Proposal 1 (to consider and vote upon the election of three director nominees to serve as Class III directors until the 2028 annual meeting of stockholders and until their successors are duly elected and qualify). The affirmative vote of shares representing at least a majority of all of the votes cast at a meeting at which a quorum is present is required under the Company’s Bylaws (as amended, the “Bylaws”) to elect each director in Proposal 1 (meaning that the number of votes cast “For” a director must exceed the number of votes cast “Against” such director for him or her to be elected). For purposes of the vote on Proposal 1, abstentions and broker non-votes will not be counted as votes cast and will have no effect on the result of the vote.
You may vote “For” or “Against,” or abstain from voting on, Proposal 2 (to ratify the selection of KPMG LLP as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm). The affirmative vote of shares representing at least a majority of all of the votes cast at a meeting at which a quorum is present is required for approval of Proposal 2 (meaning that the number of votes cast “For” the proposal must exceed the number of votes cast “Against” the proposal). For purposes of the vote on Proposal 2, abstentions and broker non-votes, if any, will not be counted as votes cast and will have no effect on the result of the vote.
The Company, and, ultimately, its stockholders, will bear the cost of solicitation of proxies in the form accompanying this statement. Proxies will be solicited by mail or by requesting brokers and other custodians, nominees and fiduciaries to forward proxy soliciting material to the beneficial owners of shares of common stock held of record by such brokers, custodians, nominees and fiduciaries, each of whom the Company will reimburse for its expenses in so doing. In addition to the use of mail, directors, officers and regular employees of Ares Capital Management LLC, the Company’s investment adviser (“Ares Capital Management” or the “investment adviser”), or Ares Operations LLC, the Company’s administrator (“Ares Operations” or the “administrator”), without special compensation therefor, may solicit proxies personally or by telephone, electronic mail, facsimile or other electronic means from stockholders. The address of each of Ares Capital Management and Ares Operations is 1800 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 1400, Los Angeles, California 90067.
The Company has engaged the services of D.F. King & Co., Inc. (“D.F. King”) for the purpose of assisting in the solicitation of proxies at an anticipated cost of approximately $7,500, plus reimbursement of certain expenses and fees for additional services requested. Please note that D.F. King may solicit