Carlyle closes flagship Carlyle Partners VI at $13B, above target

Firm: Carlyle Group

Fund: Carlyle Partners VI

Target: $10B, hard cap $12B

Amount Raised: $13B, including $1B from insiders

Placement Agent: Carlyle Group, others

The private equity firm said 269 investors from 43 countries committed $12 billion to the flagship fund.  It also drew about $1 billion from insiders, marking the largest contribution in an individual fund from within the Washington-based firm in its roughly 26-year history.

Allan Holt, managing director and co-head of the U.S. buyout group for Carlyle, said many of the investors in Carlyle Partners VI were repeat customers.

“Institutional and individual investors across the globe understand the value of having a proven buyout fund in their portfolio,” Hold said in a prepared statement. “We will take good care of their money as we work to invest wisely and create value.”

The firm turned on fees from Carlyle Partners VI during the third quarter, but has yet to make an investment from the new fund.  A person familiar with Carlyle said the firm is currently considering a number of deals.

“Our deep and experienced industry investment teams continue to identify attractive investment opportunities,” Peter Clare, managing director and co-head of the U.S. buyout group, said in a separate prepared statement.

Carlyle Partners VI’s core focus remains the U.S., but up to 25 percent of the fund will be available for non-domestic deals. Buyouts in the aerospace, defense and government services, consumer and retail, healthcare, industrial and transportation, telecommunications, and media and technology are on tap.

No single investment from the fund will exceed 10 percent of its total committed capital, although Carlyle could tap additional sources for deals from other funds in its family and from co-investments from LPs. Equity investments from the fund will typically range from about $260 million to $1 billion.

In late September, the firm took a minority stake in trendy headphone maker Beats Electronics as the last investment from Carlyle Partners V, its vintage 2007 buyout fund that raised $13.7 billion.

Among the major investments from the earlier fund: Axalta Coating Systems, formerly DuPont Performance Coatings; Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.; and Pharmaceutical Product Development Inc.

Since raising Carlyle Partners V, the firm has broadened its offerings in hedge funds, fund-of-funds and other buyout funds, including launching a growth equity fund, Carlyle Equity Opportunity Fund.

Among LP pledges to the new fund, the $265 billion California Public Employees’ Retirement System pledged $547 million to Carlyle Partners VI LP, in its biggest private equity commitment so far in 2013, Buyouts reported on Aug. 20.

Carlyle Partners V turned in a net internal rate of return of 9.4 percent as of Dec. 31, 2012, on an $800 million commitment in 2007 from CalPERS.

All told, Carlyle has raised about $22.9 billion in the past 12 months. The firm currently manages about $185 billion in assets via 122 funds and 81 funds of funds as of Sept. 30.