With the debt markets curtailing buyout activity in the U.S. and Europe, Carlyle Group is looking to the Far East for deals, and it plans to raise a new $4 billion Asia fund, according to a
Bloomberg report. The new vehicle, Carlyle Asia Partners III, will be Carlyle's third since it set up shop in Hong Kong in 1998.
Asian markets should expect to see a flood of deals this year and next as
private equity firms have been piling in thanks to the the availability of debt financing for leveraged buyouts. According to the Asian Venture Capital Journal, private equity deal activity rose 40% to a record $87.8 billion in 2007. And this month alone, Blue Ridge Partners closed a $1.45 billion fund for investment in China-based companies, while J.P. Morgan Asia Pacific and FountainVest are both in the process of raising new vehicles to be deployed in the Asia-Pacific region. -
George White
See Bloomberg storySee Dealscape post on FountainVest
