Carlyle seeks deals in finance and energy sectors

By Megan Davies

BERLIN, Feb 4 (Reuters) – Private equity firm Carlyle Group is seeking deals in sectors including finance and energy, its co-founder David Rubenstein said on Wednesday.

Banks, asset managers and insurers, mainly in the United States and Europe, are potential targets and deals which are most attractive are those with government support, he said.

Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the SuperReturn private equity conference in Berlin, Rubenstein said in the energy sector he was most focused on conventional energy, but said alternative energy was also attractive.

He said he was also looking at distressed debt opportunities. Rubenstein said that geographically, Asia and Brazil were two focuses.

Private equity firms have been hard hit by the credit crisis, which severely limited their ability to do deals. Rubenstein said earlier on Wednesday that while banks won’t be lending much in the first half of the year, he predicted that in the latter half of 2009 and 2010 there would be more leverage available to buyouts.

(Editing by David Holmes)

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