Carlyle Closed MENA Fund On $500 Million In Commitments

Private equity firm Carlyle has closed its first MENA fund, Carlyle MENA Partners, with $500 million in commitments. The fund will invest in various sectors, including energy, financial services, healthcare, industrial, infrastructure, technology and transportation in the MENA region, the

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Private equity firm Carlyle has closed its first MENA fund, Carlyle MENA Partners, with $500 million in commitments. The fund will invest in various sectors, including energy, financial services, healthcare, industrial, infrastructure, technology and transportation in the MENA region, the firm said.

“We are grateful to our investors for the confidence they have placed in us,” says Walid Musallam, Carlyle managing director and head of the MENA team. “We are disciplined investors, and have been cautious about investing in the pre-global crisis environment of high valuations. The current market environment represents an opportunity for experienced investors to deploy capital at significantly more favourable valuations than existed last year. We believe we are well placed to capitalise on opportunities that offer considerable returns for our investors while minimising downside risk. We have an excellent team of investment professionals with exceptional standards of training and experience and unparalleled insight into the markets.”

Carlyle’s MENA team was established in March 2007. From offices in Cairo, Dubai and Istanbul, Carlyle’s team of 12 professionals targets investments in Turkey, North Africa (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia), the Gulf Cooperation Council (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates), the Levant (Lebanon and Jordan) and Pakistan.

To date, Carlyle MENA has made one investment, acquiring a 50% stake in TVK Gemi Yapim Sanayi ve Ticaret in July last year. The company is a Turkish shipbuilder specialising in the construction of chemical tankers and other specialist vessels.

This marks Carlyle’s second fund close in a week, following the closure of Carlyle Mezzanine Partners II on $553 million.

Carlyle has $91.5 billion of assets under management committed to 66 funds as of 30 September 2008.

D.C.

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