Carlyle Raises Second Mezz Fund

The Carlyle Group has raised its second mezzanine fund with $553 million in equity commitments. The firm’s prior fund had $436 in commitments and closed in 2006.

Press release:

Global private equity firm The Carlyle Group today announced it has completed raising its second mezzanine investment fund, Carlyle Mezzanine Partners II, L.P. (CMP II), with equity commitments of $553 million. Carlyle’s first mezzanine fund, Carlyle Mezzanine Partners I, L.P., closed in 2006 with $436 million in equity commitments.

Carlyle Mezzanine Partners (CMP) Co-Head Leo A. Helmers said, “We are delighted to raise this new fund as the mezzanine asset class experiences strong growth in response to the significant supply-demand imbalance in today’s credit markets. The lack of debt financing alternatives in the market provides CMP an opportunity to get very high risk-adjusted returns in its mezzanine portfolio.”

CMP Co-Head James C. Shevlet, Jr. said, “We continue to invest in leading middle market companies through a combination of junior debt and minority equity securities in leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations and growth financings. CMP II has been prudently capitalizing on the dislocation in the credit markets in 2008, including financing new LBOs and purchasing mezzanine investments at discounts in the secondary market. We are grateful to our limited partners for the confidence they have placed in us.”

Established in 2004, CMP has offices in New York and Los Angeles and leverages Carlyle’s industry-based private equity experience and debt markets capability. Carlyle’s broad base of investment professionals, industry knowledge and management contacts provide CMP with a value-added competitive edge on transactions with equity sponsors and senior management teams on a pre- and post-closing basis. CMP II received strong support from its existing LP base, which includes a diverse group of state pension plans, insurance companies, university endowments and high net-worth individuals. CMP II is a U.S.-focused fund but can also invest up to 25 percent of the fund outside the U.S. on an opportunistic basis.

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The Carlyle Group is a global private equity firm with $91.5 billion of assets under management committed to 66 funds as of September 30, 2008. Carlyle invests in buyouts, growth capital, real estate and leveraged finance in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America focusing on aerospace & defense, automotive & transportation, consumer & retail, energy & power, financial services, healthcare, industrial, infrastructure, technology & business services and telecommunications & media. Since 1987, the firm has invested $52.7 billion of equity in 866 transactions for a total purchase price of approximately $225.8 billion. The Carlyle Group employs more than 1000 people in 21 countries. In the aggregate, Carlyle portfolio companies have more than $109 billion in revenue and employ more than 415,000 people around the world. www.carlyle.com