Ares Commercial Real Estate Corp.

We refer to ACRE together with our consolidated subsidiaries as we, us, Company, or our, unless we specifically state otherwise or the context indicates otherwise. We refer to our manager, Ares Commercial Real Estate Management LLC, as our Manager or ACREM, and the parent company of our Manager, Ares Management Corporation, together with its consolidated subsidiaries, as Ares Management. GENERAL We are a specialty finance company primarily engaged in directly originating and investing in commercial real estate ( CRE ) loans and related investments. We are externally managed by Ares Commercial Real Estate Management LLC ( ACREM or our Manager ), a subsidiary of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE: ARES) ( Ares Management ), a publicly traded, leading global alternative investment manager, pursuant to the terms of the Amended and Restated Management Agreement dated July 26, 2022, between us and our Manager (the Management Agreement ). From the commencement of our operations in late 2011, we have been primarily focused on directly originating and managing a diversified portfolio of CRE debt-related investments for our own account. We are a Maryland corporation and completed our initial public offering in May 2012. We have elected and qualified to be taxed as a real estate investment trust ( REIT ) for United States federal income tax purposes under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code ), commencing with our taxable year ended December 31, 2012.