Carlyle Forms China Fund, Tackles Larger Deals
The new fund will help Carlyle's Asian investment unit invest in larger transactions
January 12, 2010
The Carlyle Group has launched a Chinese private equity fund in Beijing, augmenting its Asian investment unit to invest in larger transactions in China.
Washington's Carlyle Group, which announced the new fund's formation late Monday, has secured the blessing of Beijing municipal authorities in starting the investment vehicle. Its new fund "will be entitled to preferential treatment from the Beijing municipal government," Carlyle said in a press release.
"The Carlyle Asia Partners RMB Fund will help expand our investment capabilities in Beijing and across China, further Carlyle’s strategy of localizing our franchise in China and contribute to the healthy development of the local private-equity industry,” said Daniel D’Aniello, a Carlyle managing director, in the statement.
Carlyle did not disclose a target size for the new fund's capitalization.
Carlyle's new fund will put it in direct competition with a number of other domestic private-equity firms that invest in China, including New York rivals Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and The Blackstone Group. Blackstone set up a fund last year, for instance, to invest 5 billion yuan ($731 million) in Chinese companies in conjunction with the Shanghai government.
Carlyle isn't unfamiliar with making investments in China, having previously acquired stakes in China Forestry Holdings Group and China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co. Ltd., among others.
Middle-market PE outfits have also made inroads into the country. The Riverside Co., a New York and Cleveland PE firm, has China and other Asian countries in its investment crosshairs. The financial sponsor has made two investments in Japan and one in South Korea.
For more information on related topics, visit the following:
