(The)Carlyle (Group) Closes Record Capital-Raising

[Up2Late]

(If you don't know who The Carlyle Group is, you should find out. I wonder if this is where all the "missing" billions are going? Hint: George H.W. is one of the major players.)

Carlyle Closes Record Capital-Raising

Tue Mar 29, 2005 07:40 AM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - The Carlyle Group has completed the world's largest corporate buyout capital-raising at $10 billion to finance mega-sized deals on both sides of the Atlantic, the private equity firm said on Tuesday. Carlyle's latest capital-raising was through two funds. The U.S.-focused Carlyle Partners IV got $7.85 billion of commitments, and European fund Carlyle Europe Partners II received $2.2 billion of commitments.

The massive fundraising comes amid press reports that private equity firms Warburg Pincus and Blackstone also are looking to raise up to $8 billion each. With equity returns in public markets essentially flat for most of last year and bond yields at low levels, investors have been flocking to private equity and other alternative investments to boost returns.

"There are lots of pension funds and other institutions with large funds that want exposure to private equity investments," said Chris Davison, a consultant for Almeida Capital. Private equity firms' demand for capital, meanwhile, is growing as firms are able to invest productively in larger and larger deals, Davison added.

On Monday seven private investment groups banded together to buy financial technology company SunGuard Data Systems Inc. for $10.8 billion in cash in the biggest leveraged buyout in more than 15 years. "We believe we have a level of capital that we can invest well over the next five years," said David M. Rubenstein, co-founder and managing director of Carlyle in a statement. Carlyle invests in buyouts, venture capital, real estate and leveraged finance in the U.S., Europe and Asia in industries ranging from aerospace and transport to energy, telecommunications and healthcare.

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