Carlyle closes mega fund raising

The Carlyle Group has closed its third dedicated European buyout fund, Carlyle Europe Partners III (CEP III), at €5.35bn.

Building on The Carlyle Group’s decade of success in Europe, CEP III will invest in Carlyle’s core sectors of aerospace, automotive & transportation, building materials, chemicals, consumer and retail, energy and power, healthcare, industrial, business services and telecommunications and media.

Since operations began in Europe in 1997 with the opening of offices in Paris and Munich, Carlyle has raised two European funds: Carlyle Europe Partners, a €1bn fund closed in 1998; and Carlyle Europe Partners II, a €1.8bn fund closed in 2005.

To date, Carlyle has invested €3.7bn of equity in 36 leveraged buyout transactions in Europe and returned €7.2bn to investors. Carlyle’s European buyout team consists of 37 investment professionals with offices spanning Europe’s key markets, including London, Paris, Munich, Barcelona and Milan. Notable transactions include Avio, AZ Electronic Materials, Casema, Com Hem, Ensus, Firth Rixson, Hertz, Honsel, HT Troplast, Le Figaro, Medimedia, Qinetiq, Petroplus, Saprogal, and Terreal.

The Carlyle Group has US$24.7bn dedicated to LBOs worldwide and manages 55 active funds with US$75.6bn of commitments. The European buyout team has the capacity of tapping into the expertise of over 500 investment professionals operating out of offices in 21 countries.

Jean Pierre Millet, Carlyle Europe Buyout’s chief investment officer, said: “We are delighted that Carlyle’s 10-year track record of value creation and superior returns has given investors such confidence in the Europe buyout team, enabling us to raise successfully a third dedicated fund. The fact that CEP III is substantially larger than CEP II demonstrates the premium that investors place on Carlyle’s unique combination of truly local deal professionals and global sector expertise.”